IIT Global Current Affairs Archives

India: The world's most remarkable election

2009-04-12T16:52:00.000-07:00

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/india-the-worlds-most-remarkable-election-1667541.html

India: The world's most remarkable election

As the largest democracy on the planet prepares to elect a new government,
Andrew Buncombe reports on the choices facing the 714 million voters

Sunday, 12 April 2009

From the mountain heights of Kashmir to the palm-fringed beaches of Kerala,
from Nagaland in the remote north-east to the Maharashtra heartland, India
will this week throw itself headlong into the world's largest and most
extraordinary election.

Here, in the planet's biggest, if imperfect, democracy, candidates from
1,055 parties will be seeking the support of more than 714 million
registered voters – a number that has jumped by 40 million since the last
election in 2004. Across India's 35 states and "union territories" there
will be 800,000 polling stations ready to receive voters, while six million
police will be on duty to try to maintain order. Such is the sheer scale of
this enterprise that the voting is to be staggered over a month with five
separate polling days. The result will be announced in mid-May.

Among some of the leading players in this political carnival are a movie
star turned politician, whose rallies lure countless thousands of the poor,
desperate for him to transform his on-screen Robin Hood heroism into
real-life action; a "Dalit Queen", whose support among so-called
Untouchables could carry her to the prime minister's official residence; a
chief minister whose state saw a massacre of Muslims yet who has risen to
become a potential leader of his party; and an elegant, Italian-born widow
who holds the position as India's chief power broker. There are wealthy and
poor, old and young, high-caste and low, nationalists and those who want to
separate from India. There are those who preach peace, and those who promise
violence. There are dozens of languages and many different scripts.

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But if an Indian election provides a window in the extraordinary diversity
of the subcontinent, it should not distract from the fundamental point that
this is a contest for power. The centrist Congress Party, which heads the
current ruling coalition, is battling to fight off a challenge not just from
the main opposition, the right-wing Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party
(BJP), but also from a third front of communist and left parties and even a
fourth front that includes disgruntled former allies. Some analysts believe
this election – the 15th since the country won independence in 1947 – is the
most open in recent years.

What is clear is that the election is taking place against a backdrop of
uncertainty and anxiety for India. While this emerging nation with its
middle vision fixed on superpower status has not suffered the same sort of
economic downturn as the West, many middle-class professions in the IT and
software industry have for the first time faced redundancies and layoffs.

At the same time there is mounting concern about the threat of terrorism.
Last year's Mumbai attacks saw more than 160 people killed by militants from
Pakistan, and the issue of how to avoid a repeat of such incidents has
dominated much public debate. India's relationship with Pakistan, which has
never been warm, but which in recent years had been enjoying something of a
thaw, has effectively now reverted to a stand-off. Meanwhile, the bodies of
nine of the militants who carried out the attack – another man was captured
alive – remain in a Mumbai mortuary waiting to be claimed.

"I will be voting BJP. The risk of terrorism is high and the Congress does
not support a strict law against terrorism," said Praveen Rana, an Indian
air force officer. "The problem for India is that 60 per cent of the
population is poor and they vote in their own interests. The middle classes
don't care about politics. That is why we only have bad politicians."

This criticism of politicians, particularly their alleged corruption, is a
constant among supporters of all parties. In a country where bribery is
embedded in everyday interactions – from getting a job or a canister of
cooking gas to paying off a policeman – ordinary voters are disappointed but
not surprised at reports of corruption. Indeed, Indian newspapers have been
full of such stories. Just this week, police in the southern state of Andhra
Pradesh, parts of which go to the polls on Thursday, uncovered wads of cash
worth about £3m in a supposed "votes for notes" scandal. One regional
watchdog claims £137m will be spent in the last few days of campaigning to
pay for inducements. Many ordinary people believe instinctively that
politicians are only interested in themselves.

"Nobody will help the poor. I have

to work for my survival," said Krishaiah, a wizened flower-seller from the
southern city of Hyderabad, touting strings of blooms alongside a noisy,
traffic-filled road. "Neither the Congress nor anybody else can help."

That people have such distrust of politicians ought not to be a surprise. Of
the 543 MPs returned to the Lok Sabha, or lower house of parliament, in
2004, a total of 128 had outstanding criminal charges against them. Of those
alleged offences, 84 were for murder while other allegations included
kidnapping, extortion and robbery. "[To be prevented from standing] the law
requires a person to be convicted but a lot of these cases just drag on and
on," said Anil Bairwal, coordinator of the Association for Democratic
Reforms, a watchdog group that has collected these statistics. "By the time
it comes to court, the person may have retired or passed on."

Leading the Congress's re-election campaign is party chairman Sonia Gandhi,
the autocratic widow of assassinated former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, and
prime minister Manmohan Singh, a quiet, uncharismatic economist credited
with kick-starting India's development but who has taken the country into a
closer alignment with the US. Mrs Gandhi's quietly spoken 38-year-old son,
Rahul, a great-grandson of India's first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru,
is already a major presence in the party and is widely tipped as a future
prime minister. The Congress, which bought the rights to the Slumdog
Millionaire hit "Jai Ho" (Let There Be Victory) to use as its theme song,
has sought to highlight the country's progress over the past five years.

Leading the BJP is the octogenarian L K Advani, a man who despite, or
perhaps because of, his age has pitched himself as a politician of vitality
and new ideas. He has even started blogging. Despite the ascension within
the party's hierarchy of figures such Narendra Modi, a right-wing ideologue
and chief minister of Gujarat, which in 2002 saw a massacre of Muslims, the
BJP has tried to position itself towards the centre, arguing that it has
moved away from its nationalist past.

But its dilemma of whether or not to give up the so-called Hindutva vote was
underlined by the recent antics of Varun Gandhi, also a great-grandson of
Nehru but the black sheep of the dynasty. Campaigning for the BJP in India's
largest state, Uttar Pradesh, Mr Gandhi, who falsely claimed he had earned
two degrees in London, vowed to cut off the heads of Muslims – an election
promise that might have pleased Hindu extremists but which saw him thrown in
jail and held under anti-terrorism laws.

Uttar Pradesh, which sends 80 MPs, was once a Congress stronghold but has
since been controlled by two caste-based parties. The current chief
minister, Mayawati, draws her support from Dalits and has gradually built
her support elsewhere in the country. Brimming with ambition and with a
penchant for commissioning super-sized statues of herself, the diminutive
Mayawati has been tipped as a possible premier if she takes her Bahujan
Samaj Party into an alliance with left parties in a third front.

In recent weeks, a fourth front has also emerged, made up of regional
parties such as the Samajwadi Party, another caste-based party from Uttar
Pradesh, and the Rashtriya Janata Dal from impoverished Bihar. While this
grouping is unlikely to be able to form a government by itself, its fortunes
have been boosted by the support of Konidela Shiva Shankara Vara Prasad,
better known as Chiranjeevi, a popular Telugu-language movie star, who last
year formed his own party in Andhra Pradesh. The larger-than-life actor has
drawn huge crowds as his campaign tours the state. "Reforms need to take
place," he said. "Rural areas have been neglected."

Pundits predict that whichever single party emerges with the most votes, it
will be forced to make a coalition to form a government. This time around,
there have been few pre-poll alliances with most parties opting to see how
they stand in a month's time. "The real election will start on 16 May," said
the veteran journalist and political analyst M J Akbar. "[The coalitions]
are all marriages of convenience. There are no clear ideologies."

In a region where democracy has often struggled, it is perhaps a compliment
to India's enduring civilian rule that few see radical changes, regardless
of whichever of the major parties forms the next government. What the
election does promise is terrific political theatre. Pull up a chair.

The India election in numbers

States

West Bengal: Bengal has been under Communist rule since gaining
independence, and hammer and sickle flags jostle for space with images of
Bollywood stars.

Kashmir: The most densely militarised place on Earth and still at the centre
of South Asian tension.

Uttar Pradesh: India's largest and most important state, with a population
of over 190 million. It is the electoral base of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty,
with Rahul and Sonia Gandhi both having constituencies here.

Gujarat: Fast becoming India's business hub, Gujarat is responsible for the
production of about 90 per cent of India's required Soda Ash. It also
provides about 66 per cent of all the salt used in India.

Kerala: A survey in 2005 ranked Kerala as the least corrupt state in the
country. At 91 per cent, it also has the highest literacy rate in India.

Bihar: Nearly 85 per cent of Bihar's population is rural.

Haryana: At 29,887 rupees (£410), the state of Haryana has the third highest
per capita income in India. It also has the largest number of rural
crorepatis (similar to millionaires when taking into account the cost of
living) in India.

Himachal Pradesh: In a 1981 census it was found that Hindus made up 95 per
cent of the state population.

Maharashtra: Contributing to 15 per cent of India's industrial output and
13.2 per cent of its GDP in 2005-06, Maharashtra is the richest state in
India.

Punjab: With just 6.16 per cent of the population living in poverty, Punjab
is considered the least impoverished of India's states.

Nagaland: Over 85 per cent of the population of Nagaland are directly
dependant on agriculture.

Orissa: Nearly half of the 38 million people living in Orissa are classed as
living below the poverty line.

Tamil Nadu: More than 10 per cent of India's businesses are based in Tamil
Nadu – the largest number for any state.

Sikkim: With only 540,000 inhabitants, Sikkim is India's least populous
state. At 76 people per square kilometre, it also one of the least densely
populated.

Mizoram: Christians make up 87 per cent of Mizoram's population – one of
only three Indian states with a Christian majority.

Karnataka: With GDP growth of 56.2 per cent and per capita GDP growth of
43.9 per cent, Karnataka has been the fastest growing state over the past
decade.

Arunachal Pradesh: The one million-strong population of Arunachal Pradesh is
grouped into more than a hundred tribes and sub-tribes.

Manipur: A politically sensitive area, foreigners wishing to visit must get
a permit which lasts up to ten days. Visitors are required to travel in
groups of four on arranged tours with authorised agents only.

Chhattisgarh: Known as "the rice bowl of India", Chhattisgarh is one of the
largest producers of rice in India – around 1.6 tonnes per hectare.

Assam: Separatist rebels and ethnic tension make this an unstable region,
with attacks on migrants and 605 bomb blasts in the past eight years.

Madhya Pradesh: Sixty per cent of children aged under five are malnourished,
leading to a mortality rate of one in 10 – among the world's worst areas for
malnutrition.

Jharkhand: With a rapidly advancing economy, poverty declined by 2 per cent
per year between 1994 and 2002.

Goa: Hundreds of thousands of tourists flock here each year attracted by
Goa's beaches and world heritage architecture.

Rajasthan: The largest state in India, Rajasthan has an area of 342,269km2,
around 100,000km2 more than the UK.

Andhra Pradesh: At 972km, Andhra Pradesh has the second largest coastline in
India.

Meghalaya: The population is mostly composed of tribespeople, 70 per cent of
them Christian owing to the work of early missionaries.

Tripura: A state ruled by members of the Left Front, including the Communist
Party of India (Marxist) and the Revolutionary Socialist Party.

Uttarakhand: The capital, Dehradun, is sometimes known as "the Oxford of
India" for its wide array of boarding schools.

Union territories

Chandigarh: The city of Chandigarh has the highest per capita income in the
country at 99,262 rupees (£1,350). It is also a union territory.

Andaman and Nicobar Islands: The islands were struck by the 2004 Boxing Day
tsunami; 2,500 people were killed and 5,000 pronounced missing.

Lakshadweep: India's smallest union territory with a population of just
60,650.

Delhi: Current estimates put the municipal population at 17 million, making
Delhi the sixth most populous city in the world.

Puducherry: With colleges for engineering, the arts, sciences, medicine and
technology, Puducherry is considered an educational centre for southern
India.

Dadra and Nagar Haveli: These Portuguese colonies were liberated in July
1954, and an agreement signed in 1961 to merge them with the rest of India.

Daman and Diu: With a population of just 158,204 , this is India's second
least populous area.

General election facts

There are 543 seats in the Lok Sabha, the directly elected lower house which
is also known as the House of the People. Elections take place every five
years.

There are 730 million registered voters in India, an increase of 40 million
since 2004.

Voting will be conducted at 800,000 polling booths and 1,368,430 electronic
voting machines.

More than two million security personnel will be on hand to ensure the
elections run without a hitch.

Of the candidates announced so far, at least 70 have criminal cases pending
against them. The charges include murder, rape, kidnapping, extortion and
assault.

Voting takes place over five phases between 16 April and 13 May.

India's biggest political party, the Indian National Congress, is part of
the United Progressive Alliance which brings together parties willing to
support a Congress-led national government.

The main opposition, the Bharatiya Jarata Party (BJP), is part of the
National Democratic Alliance. This coalition was the first to be forged
between a major national party and a range of regional players.

The Third Front, a leftist grouping, re-named itself the United National
Progressive Alliance last month. The UNPA lists the Communist Party of
India, the Forward Bloc and the Revolutionary Socialist Party among its 10
members.

Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.

2009-04-06T03:37:00.000-07:00

Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.

Stanford Report, June 14, 2005

'You've got to find what you love,' Jobs says
This is the text of the Commencement address by Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple Computer and of Pixar Animation Studios, delivered on June 12, 2005.

I am honored to be with you today at your commencement from one of the finest universities in the world. I never graduated from college. Truth be told, this is the closest I've ever gotten to a college graduation. Today I want to tell you three stories from my life. That's it. No big deal. Just three stories.

The first story is about connecting the dots.

I dropped out of Reed College after the first 6 months, but then stayed around as a drop-in for another 18 months or so before I really quit. So why did I drop out?

It started before I was born. My biological mother was a young, unwed college graduate student, and she decided to put me up for adoption. She felt very strongly that I should be adopted by college graduates, so everything was all set for me to be adopted at birth by a lawyer and his wife. Except that when I popped out they decided at the last minute that they really wanted a girl. So my parents, who were on a waiting list, got a call in the middle of the night asking: "We have an unexpected baby boy; do you want him?" They said: "Of course." My biological mother later found out that my mother had never graduated from college and that my father had never graduated from high school. She refused to sign the final adoption papers. She only relented a few months later when my parents promised that I would someday go to college.

And 17 years later I did go to college. But I naively chose a college that was almost as expensive as Stanford, and all of my working-class parents' savings were being spent on my college tuition. After six months, I couldn't see the value in it. I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life and no idea how college was going to help me figure it out. And here I was spending all of the money my parents had saved their entire life. So I decided to drop out and trust that it would all work out OK. It was pretty scary at the time, but looking back it was one of the best decisions I ever made. The minute I dropped out I could stop taking the required classes that didn't interest me, and begin dropping in on the ones that looked interesting.

It wasn't all romantic. I didn't have a dorm room, so I slept on the floor in friends' rooms, I returned coke bottles for the 5¢ deposits to buy food with, and I would walk the 7 miles across town every Sunday night to get one good meal a week at the Hare Krishna temple. I loved it. And much of what I stumbled into by following my curiosity and intuition turned out to be priceless later on. Let me give you one example:

Reed College at that time offered perhaps the best calligraphy instruction in the country. Throughout the campus every poster, every label on every drawer, was beautifully hand calligraphed. Because I had dropped out and didn't have to take the normal classes, I decided to take a calligraphy class to learn how to do this. I learned about serif and san serif typefaces, about varying the amount of space between different letter combinations, about what makes great typography great. It was beautiful, historical, artistically subtle in a way that science can't capture, and I found it fascinating.

None of this had even a hope of any practical application in my life. But ten years later, when we were designing the first Macintosh computer, it all came back to me. And we designed it all into the Mac. It was the first computer with beautiful typography. If I had never dropped in on that single course in college, the Mac would have never had multiple typefaces or proportionally spaced fonts. And since Windows just copied the Mac, its likely that no personal computer would have them. If I had never dropped out, I would have never dropped in on this calligraphy class, and personal computers might not have the wonderful typography that they do. Of course it was impossible to connect the dots looking forward when I was in college. But it was very, very clear looking backwards ten years later.

Again, you can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.

My second story is about love and loss.

I was lucky — I found what I loved to do early in life. Woz and I started Apple in my parents garage when I was 20. We worked hard, and in 10 years Apple had grown from just the two of us in a garage into a $2 billion company with over 4000 employees. We had just released our finest creation — the Macintosh — a year earlier, and I had just turned 30. And then I got fired. How can you get fired from a company you started? Well, as Apple grew we hired someone who I thought was very talented to run the company with me, and for the first year or so things went well. But then our visions of the future began to diverge and eventually we had a falling out. When we did, our Board of Directors sided with him. So at 30 I was out. And very publicly out. What had been the focus of my entire adult life was gone, and it was devastating.

I really didn't know what to do for a few months. I felt that I had let the previous generation of entrepreneurs down - that I had dropped the baton as it was being passed to me. I met with David Packard and Bob Noyce and tried to apologize for screwing up so badly. I was a very public failure, and I even thought about running away from the valley. But something slowly began to dawn on me — I still loved what I did. The turn of events at Apple had not changed that one bit. I had been rejected, but I was still in love. And so I decided to start over.

I didn't see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life.

During the next five years, I started a company named NeXT, another company named Pixar, and fell in love with an amazing woman who would become my wife. Pixar went on to create the worlds first computer animated feature film, Toy Story, and is now the most successful animation studio in the world. In a remarkable turn of events, Apple bought NeXT, I returned to Apple, and the technology we developed at NeXT is at the heart of Apple's current renaissance. And Laurene and I have a wonderful family together.

I'm pretty sure none of this would have happened if I hadn't been fired from Apple. It was awful tasting medicine, but I guess the patient needed it. Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don't lose faith. I'm convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You've got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don't settle.

My third story is about death.

When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: "If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you'll most certainly be right." It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: "If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?" And whenever the answer has been "No" for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.

Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.

About a year ago I was diagnosed with cancer. I had a scan at 7:30 in the morning, and it clearly showed a tumor on my pancreas. I didn't even know what a pancreas was. The doctors told me this was almost certainly a type of cancer that is incurable, and that I should expect to live no longer than three to six months. My doctor advised me to go home and get my affairs in order, which is doctor's code for prepare to die. It means to try to tell your kids everything you thought you'd have the next 10 years to tell them in just a few months. It means to make sure everything is buttoned up so that it will be as easy as possible for your family. It means to say your goodbyes.

I lived with that diagnosis all day. Later that evening I had a biopsy, where they stuck an endoscope down my throat, through my stomach and into my intestines, put a needle into my pancreas and got a few cells from the tumor. I was sedated, but my wife, who was there, told me that when they viewed the cells under a microscope the doctors started crying because it turned out to be a very rare form of pancreatic cancer that is curable with surgery. I had the surgery and I'm fine now.

This was the closest I've been to facing death, and I hope its the closest I get for a few more decades. Having lived through it, I can now say this to you with a bit more certainty than when death was a useful but purely intellectual concept:

No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don't want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life's change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true.

Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.

When I was young, there was an amazing publication called The Whole Earth Catalog, which was one of the bibles of my generation. It was created by a fellow named Stewart Brand not far from here in Menlo Park, and he brought it to life with his poetic touch. This was in the late 1960's, before personal computers and desktop publishing, so it was all made with typewriters, scissors, and polaroid cameras. It was sort of like Google in paperback form, 35 years before Google came along: it was idealistic, and overflowing with neat tools and great notions.

Stewart and his team put out several issues of The Whole Earth Catalog, and then when it had run its course, they put out a final issue. It was the mid-1970s, and I was your age. On the back cover of their final issue was a photograph of an early morning country road, the kind you might find yourself hitchhiking on if you were so adventurous. Beneath it were the words: "Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish." It was their farewell message as they signed off. Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish. And I have always wished that for myself. And now, as you graduate to begin anew, I wish that for you.

Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.

Thank you all very much.

Remembering Jawaharlal Nehru - By Kumar

2007-11-16T17:15:00.000-08:00

It was the late 50's and a young boy in a small town caught a fancy for a box camera, having seen his classmate use one. He pestered his father until, one day, the senior man took him to a camera shop. The
shopkeeper displayed his wares; the father looked at each one before flinching at the asking price.

To cut a long story short, both father and son walked out of that shop without the buy, hugging the new camera
he wanted.

In the strange way that kids sometime understand adult compulsions, the boy did not feel so bad about not having the camera.

But the hurt in his father's eyes would haunt the boy for the rest of his life.

It is fashionable today to criticise Jawaharlal Nehru, but in many ways he was like the little boy's father. His love of his country was unquestioned; he wanted the best for his people, but had so little by way of resources.

Nehru was dealing with a newborn country that had
been denuded of all wealth by its own selfish, scheming and utterly degenerate kings and nawabs in concert with a criminal entity supported by the British crown known as the East India Company.

Why did we not take up the American way at independence? Because this was not America, where immigrants from England and other places in Europe came to settle; this was our own land which we did not own. In a way, we were left like the native Americans, the "Red Indians". Ask them what the American Way did to them.

Wait, the boy's story has more. He grew up, in the normal way kids all over did, and was soon on the threshold of college. He found he was weak in chemistry; his father, who was trained in the subject, sat down with him, and tutored him everyday until the young man was
confident enough.

Sure enough, that boy made it into IIT, and into Mechanical Engineering, too: a "hot" branch in those days. His father's pride, as he introduced his son to his other fiends and associates, made the boy realise his dad was there for him when it mattered the most.

Nehru did not live to see the economic superpower his country was turning into. But you are there to witness it; spend a few moments in thought about the Father of the IITs. November 14th is his birthday.

Jawaharlal Nehru is in real danger of being forgotten. You, of all people, should never, ever, let that happen.

kumar

ON THE RECORD Umang Gupta

2007-07-03T00:32:00.000-07:00

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/07/01/BUG80QN2IG1.DTL

ON THE RECORD
Umang Gupta
Chairman, PanIIT USA
Sunday, July 1, 2007

The CEO of Keynote Systems talks about the Indian Institute of Technology as engineering and business alumni gather this week in Silicon Valley.
Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton will be among the speakers who will visit Santa Clara this week when several thousand graduates of India's most prestigious university network, the Indian Institute of Technology, gather for their alumni conference.
At a time when the India is exerting a growing influence on the world stage, the IIT Alumni 2007 Global Conference offers a chance to understand the experience of a group of business, political and academic leaders who have played a particularly important role in Silicon Valley.
Representing this group of prestigious alumni -- who call themselves IITians -- is Umang Gupta, chief executive officer of Keynote Systems, the San Mateo Internet tracking firm. Gupta came to the United States during the Vietnam War and worked in the technology industry. He was one of the first employees at Oracle in Redwood City before striking out on his own.
In an hourlong interview last week, Gupta looked back on his three-plus decades of experience in the tech industry, highlighted the accomplishments of his fellow alumni, and explained the genesis and importance of the Indian Institute of Technology.
Q: Tell us a bit about the conference.
A: The seven IITs in India have probably graduated more than 100,000 alumni over the last 20 years. We refer to those alumni as the PanIIT movement. We did one event in 2003 here in Silicon Valley where I think we had more than 2,000 people. We've done subsequent events in Washington, D.C., and in Mumbai (Bombay) last year. And this one is going to be the largest, we think, with more than 4,000 people attending.
Q: This has been a powerful business network. How has it impacted the Indian business experience here?
A: IITians (graduates of IIT) are not just in business. Lots are in academia. Subra Suresh recently became the dean of engineering at MIT. We have many IITians who've done extraordinarily well in businesses. Victor Menezes was senior vice chairman of Citigroup until recently. Ajit Jain is No. 2 to Warren Buffett in the insurance business. So you have a network of people who are very well-connected, obviously very talented individuals and graduates in the lead institutions in IIT, and they certainly have quite an impact on both India and our future.
Q: With that broad a network, what are the common themes, common interests?
A: The biggest common interest is how they got into the IIT. Historically, 2,000 kids get selected out of 100,000-plus by taking a joint exam. Then you go through a five-year process of going to college together.
Even though you have seven different campuses, there are lots of intercampus activities. So we're all really pretty well connected and you have the same bonds that somebody would have if you came out of Harvard or Yale or Princeton or Dartmouth. Many IITians are also part of a particular industry. In many cases, the IT industry. The other aspect is that being Indian immigrants here, they certainly have quite an element of being connected.
Q: What things do you promote in common?
A: No 1, to galvanize and network alumni to help each other, like any other alumni organization would do. No. 2, to help strengthen our alma mater, the IITs, through faculty recruitment, research projects, donating back. No. 3 is contributing to both the local communities that you're part of, or back to India to the extent that you can help in connecting between India and the communities that you're part of.
Q: For Indians coming to the United States, what has been their experience regarding acceptance here over the past 20 or 30 years?
A: I can use my experiences. I came here in 1971 as a graduate student. This was at the height of the Vietnam War. I went to Kent State University and I absolutely had no angst or feelings of being not accepted or being discriminated against. Academic institutions are always open, they're incredibly liberal, and there's a great acceptance of folks coming from overseas. However, once you leave the institution, and you get into the working world, each one of us has had different experiences.
I was fortunate. I joined IBM as a sales guy. On the other hand, friends of mine would say that they did feel discriminated against in those days. I came out here to Silicon Valley in 1978. I was employee No. 17 at Oracle. I wrote Oracle's first business plan. I was Larry Ellison's first executive to leave to start a company of my own, which I then took public in 1993, called Gupta Technologies and really the first Indian-run software company at that time.
But I was not alone. About the same time, Vinod Khosla started Daisy Systems and after Daisy systems he co-founded Sun Microsystems and has been one of the most successful venture capitalists in the world today. So we had a few entrepreneurs, I'm going to say probably a handful, in the late '80s.
But in the '90s, the world changed. Completely. India started to deregulate. The Berlin Wall fell. There was no competing ideology to capitalism. By that time, many IITians had gone through a 20-year process of maturing in their particular jobs. Many of them had reached fairly good heights.
Rajat Gupta, who essentially graduated the same year as I did, ended up becoming head of McKinsey (consulting firm) in the mid-'90s. Arun Sarin is now CEO of Vodafone. These are all individuals who came to America in the early '70s but ended up working the ladder. You had others -- some of us here in Silicon Valley -- who ended up becoming entrepreneurs. It took time. But then the third thing happened, and that was the Internet.
Previously the river could only flow one way. You could send smart Indian guys out of college over here, and you could get a job but there were limits. But with the Internet, you could actually send the work over that made sense to do over there. And I know it's one of those things where oftentimes people have different viewpoints. But it has dramatically impacted both America and India for the good, because it has allowed so much of Silicon Valley to be able to take work that otherwise it just couldn't have done economically here and move it.
Q: Is there any limit to the work that can be outsourced?
A: I've always felt there's a limit. But let's go back and think about it. The Japanese -- in the late '50s, people would talk about early transistor radios being built by the Japanese. And everybody said, 'Oh, these are just cheap Japanese transistor radios.' Eventually, they built some of the best consumer electronics in the world. They did it because they ended up with a robust consumer economy.
The same happened with cars like the Datsun. Everybody thought these were cheap little cars. Eventually, when the local economy became big, they really started to become world leaders.
Now let's move back to semiconductors. People have yet to be able to really build the equivalent of an Intel somewhere else. The same is happening in software. So what's moved overseas? SAP development, Oracle application development, and those kinds of things have moved. But when you want to build the next Google, you build it here. And many companies that may start over there end up actually moving here.
You have to be close to that market. That's the reason why so many Israeli companies move here. Without a huge home market, it is almost impossible to build a world- leader company. Period. And those consumer markets for software, at least, just don't exist today in India or China or elsewhere.
Q: What is your take on Silicon Valley? What is it about the valley that makes it happen?
A: There's no place like it on Earth. It is a combination of an amazing academic setup -- Stanford and Berkeley and others -- combined with venture capital that has over time grown up here, so it's an institutional knowledge of how to invest, combined with companies that are at the center of their industries, whether it's the Internet or enterprise software or the semiconductor or hardware industries.
A spirit has emerged over time, like the wildcat spirit emerged in Texas when oil was discovered. Do similar ingredients exist elsewhere? Absolutely. Bangalore certainly has that entrepreneurial spirit, along with a fairly good set of technology companies there in the context of India.
But when you combine all of that with the presence of a local home market and venture capital and all those other things, we're still talking of a big difference. Austin certainly has a combination of venture capital and universities. Massachusetts has those, but somehow Silicon Valley here seems to definitely have a surfeit of everything.
Q: Some people would say this world that you describe has not dramatically affected America for the good, although it may have affected India. Is there a global elite, a global technocracy that's beyond nationalism?
A: Whether globalization is good or bad for America is a deeper question. America has no choice -- and no country has a choice -- but to globalize today. America led the fight against communism for the last century. What was that fight all about? Freedom of expression, freedom of property rights. There's a certain ideology of how to run one's life, country and society and everything else. We won that fight and with that win came a certain responsibility to help spread the notion of global capitalism in a global way across the world. That's what we're doing.
The real question is how do we come out winners in the globalization battle? I think the only way we're going to be winners is to continue to be highly competitive as an economy. Always be ahead of the curve on technology. The ability to innovate, the ability to explore new frontiers. That's what makes America.
Q: Cisco CEO John Chambers says the American educational system needs a lot of improvement. Is that where that logic would take you?
A: Absolutely. We can't just retreat into a shell. We have to be able to build and win the battle for globalization. The only way you do that is to help educate your citizens to be global citizens. You improve your K-12 system. You improve your college education, and you continually raise the bar for what you've got to do. And the bar for many of us, you know, was college. Many of our parents never went to college. Frankly, our grandparents, some of them never even finished high school, and so the bar just continues to go up.
Q: Why don't we move on to the root of the organization and what IIT is all about.
A: The IIT system got started in the 1950s as a result of an early decision by the first prime minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru, who felt that in order to compete there ought to be this elite set of engineering schools that would produce engineering graduates to create the heavy industry that India needed. So the five institutes were started.
One of them in Kharagpur was helped by multiple different countries. Then after that, subsequent institutes, the one in Kanpur, the one I come from, was helped by America. The one in Delhi was helped by Britain. The one in Chennai was helped by Germany and the one in Mumbai was actually helped by the Soviet Union at that time. 'Help' meaning a certain amount of financial help, professors from universities would come.
I still remember many of my professors there were from either Stanford or MIT or Cal Tech or elsewhere. I studied computer programming on the first computer ever brought to India.
It was an IBM computer, an IBM 1620, with punch cards and the whole thing. This was in the late '60s. These universities started to graduate mechanical engineers, electrical engineers and chemical, and then computer science graduates. As I mentioned, the process of getting into school was a very, very competitive exam. My graduating class was about 300. There were five institutes in the beginning, so 300 times 5 is 1,500 people out of 100,000 selected to get in. And now there are seven institutes, so there are about 2,000.
Q: Were these scholarships or were you paying?
A: We're paying, but they are heavily subsidized, no question.
Q: Why only 2,000 students?
A: Many people believe there should be more IITs. Within India there is a movement to add more IITs. Others say there should not be more IITs if you want to keep them to extremely high standards. I think over time there will be more IITs. But how many more it's hard to tell.
Q: Are we lifting up our brains in the United States in comparable ways?
A: My kids who go to school here, Ivy Leagues, and so there is absolutely no question that we produce an amazing set of elite kids in some of our Ivy Leagues today.
I think ultimately the real question is: Are we lifting up the large majority of Americans to those levels required to compete in the global world? We do a pretty good job of educating the broad majority of our citizens compared to most other countries. However, we could and we should do a better job.
Q: Where does the PanIIT organization come down on the immigration reform issue in the United States?
A: The first thing to know about our group is that we do not consider ourselves a political organization. We are first and foremost an alumni organization. To the extent that we have any opinions relative to politics, they are generally noncontroversial, at least from our viewpoint. As an organization, we believe America needs to retain its competitiveness. In order for America to retain its competitiveness, immigration reform clearly needs to focus on improving the capability for people who can help America going forward.
By and large, any immigration reform that helps to increase H-1B visas, any immigration reform that helps to improve the likelihood of IITians and other graduates like IITians entering America and doing well for America, as well as for themselves, is something that IIT supports.
Q: Is the H-1B program overly weighted to take advantage of Indian immigrants?
A: I think that has more to do with the nature of the outsourcing industry than the H-1B program. A very large part of IT outsourcing is from India. The industry didn't even exist 15 years ago, and as it started, much of that work has gone to Indian companies like Infosys and Wipro and Satyam. However, I think as the world starts to add other countries for IT outsourcing whether they be Bulgaria, Russia or China, the H-1B system will automatically start to become appropriate for different countries.
Q: China seems to be the biggest emerging threat to your present IT outsourcing. Northern Africa, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Eastern Europe seem to be emerging areas. How do you stay ahead of the curve on that?
A: Ultimately, any industry has to stay ahead of the curve by constantly being ahead of either the technology or events or sticking to its core competencies or doing better with its customers. In the initial IT world, a lot of outsourcing was: Can I do something relatively simple or cheaper? Today, the tasks require a certain level of quality that is much higher than say 15 years ago. So maintaining cost-competitiveness and ensuring high quality are the keys to sound successful outsourcing.
Q: English fluency helps.
A: That's a natural advantage India has that I think is not going away soon.
Q: IT companies in India are trying to move up to research and development rather than being just cost-cutting outfits.
A: I think you will always find the ability to go up the food chain is a lot easier than going down the food chain. It is much easier to move from doing, let's call it SAP- and Oracle-style coding for an IT shop in any of corporate America's Fortune 500 companies, to move up to do programming for companies like Google or Microsoft where you are actually building parts of an operating system.
But, going the other way, which is to find rural Indians who don't necessarily speak English or even if they do speak English, it's rudimentary English. They may have a B.A. degree, but that B.A. or B.S. degree from a rural college in India is not the same thing as an IIT degree.
Q: Your group has a rising influence. What do you talk about and what are those things that are important to you?
A: Is there something common that all Indians would generally say, 'Yes, this is something we should stand behind?' It certainly would be immigration. We all believe that more immigration is good. We should encourage more globalization, more openness. We must move forward with being able to help be more competitive as a nation. Those are all things that IITians would unite on.
Q: How about domestic issues, health care?
A: Not at this point. Individuals absolutely do, but not as an organization.
Q: How has the environment changed in Silicon Valley in terms of the way folks who immigrate here are treated. Is there racism in the valley?
A: I have not felt personally, or known of, instances of racism. This is an amazingly open part of America. Silicon Valley is another meritocracy, very much so, and that's probably one of the reasons why our IITians love being here, because they've been part of a meritocracy so long in the IIT system. The answer is no. We haven't seen any racism.
Q: Is there a wall for advancement to the executive suite for Indians? Is that final frontier for Indians to be at the top of the heap in the valley, to be the financiers and the venture capitalists?
A: It is definitely happening. I don't think Vinod Khosla is the only one who has done well as a venture capitalist. Promod Haque of Norwest Venture Partners has done extremely well in the venture capital industry. You have people who have done well with major corporations like Vodafone, for example, or McKinsey. So I think that is definitely happening.
It just takes a long time. I think back to my days when I joined IBM. I could speak English reasonably well and so was very well accepted by and large. But I never thought of myself as the guy who was going to rise up the chain and finally end up being president of the IBM Corporation. I didn't look like somebody who could be president of IBM and I never even thought that's what I wanted to do. I just at some point left and said, "Fine, I'll start my own company and that's the way I'll do it." I think there are a lot of Indians who feel that way.
Q: Has America become the place whose lunch everybody wants to eat? Does America get to eat the world's lunch, or is America disadvantaged in the future?
A: I think it's a deeper economic question. If you go back in history again when New York was in the ascendancy and the Midwest and the West were just being discovered and people were saying, "Well, gee, you know all the money goes into New York," the issue of deficits between New York and Iowa never existed.
Why? Because we're all one nation. People thought it was OK. People could move back and forth and move money back and forth. The globalists would argue that we are becoming one large globe. And to the extent that has occurred, or to the extent that American values are going everywhere and American capitalism is going everywhere and people are trading with each other in peace, generally speaking in a way so that we can all improve our standard of living. Nobody has to eat anybody else's lunch. There is plenty for everybody.
Umang Gupta
Age: 57
Title: Chairman and chief executive officer, Keynote Systems Inc.
Education: Bachelor's degree in chemical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology at Kanpur in 1971; MBA from Kent State University in 1972.
Work experience: Started his career with IBM in 1973. Joined Oracle Corp. in 1981 and wrote the company's first business plan. Served as vice president and general manager of Oracle's Microcomputer Products Division through 1984. Founded one of the early enterprise client/server computing firms, Gupta Technologies Corp., which he took public in 1993. Chairman and CEO of Keynote Systems since 1997.
Personal: Married to Ruth Gupta. Two surviving children, daughter, 25, and son, 18. The Guptas support charities for the developmentally disabled, including the Raji House in Burlingame, named in memory of their middle child.
Participating in this interview were Business Editor Ken Howe, Deputy Business Editor Alan T. Saracevic, staff writers Tom Abate, Ralph Hermansson and Jessica Guynn, and editorial assistants Colleen Benson and Steve Corder.

IIT-Kharagpur top technology college in country: survey

2007-06-20T23:28:00.000-07:00

http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticleNew.asp?xfile=data/subcontinent/2007/June/subcontinent_June768.xml§ion=subcontinent&col

IIT-Kharagpur top technology college in country: survey
(IANS)

20 June 2007

NEW DELHI — The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kharagpur, in West Bengal is the top technology and engineering college of the country, edging out IIT-Madras which held the position last year, a survey said yesterday.

According to the survey by Data Quest, a technology magazine in India, and International Data Corporation (IDC), a US-headquartered research firm, the seven IITs have bagged the top seven positions. IIT-Kharagpur climbed two places to the first slot.

The National Institute of Technology (NIT), Warangal, has stormed into the top 10 list for the first time. While IIT-Madras has slipped from the top slot to second position, IIT-Bombay climbed two spots to occupy the third slot. The premier IIT-Delhi had slid to fourth from No.2 last year, while IIT-Roorkee has jumped two places to fifth spot.

IIT-Guwahati is ranked sixth, while IIT-Kanpur is surprisingly the last in the rung of IITs at seventh spot.

While Indian Institute of Information Technology, Hyderabad, bagged the ninth spot, Institute of Technology of Banaras Hindu University (BHU) was at 10th spot.

Describing the National Institute of Technology (formerly, Regional Engineering College) Warangal, being in the top 10, the study said that for the "first time, a second-rung school broke into the Top 10 list". It was at number eight, up four notches from last year.

N R Narayana Murthy of Infosys Lecture at Stern school of Business. N Y Uni

2007-06-03T05:01:00.000-07:00

N R Narayana Murthy, chief mentor and chairman of the board, Infosys
Technologies, delivered a pre-commencement lecture at the New York
University ( Stern School of Business) on May 9. It is a scintillating
speech, Murthy speaks about the lessons he learnt from his life and
career.

Dean Cooley, faculty, staff, distinguished guests, and, most
importantly, the graduating class of 2007, it is a great privilege to
speak at your commencement ceremonies.

I thank Dean Cooley and Prof Marti Subrahmanyam for their kind
invitation. I am exhilarated to be part of such a joyous occasion.
Congratulations to you, the class of 2007, on completing an important
milestone in your life journey.

After some thought, I have decided to share with you some of my life
lessons. I learned these lessons in the context of my early career
struggles, a life lived under the influence of sometimes unplanned
events which were the crucibles that tempered my character and
reshaped my future.

I would like first to share some of these key life events with you, in
the hope that these may help you understand my struggles and how
chance events and unplanned encounters with influential persons
shaped my life and career.

Later, I will share the deeper life lessons that I have learned. My
sincere hope is that this sharing will help you see your own trials
and tribulations for the hidden blessings they can be.

The first event occurred when I was a graduate student in Control
Theory at IIT, Kanpur , in India . At breakfast on a bright Sunday
morning in 1968, I had a chance encounter with a famous computer
scientist on sabbatical from a well-known US university.

He was discussing exciting new developments in the field of computer
science with a large group of students and how such developments would
alter our future. He was articulate, passionate and quite convincing.
I was hooked. I went straight from breakfast to the library, read
four or five papers he had suggested, and left the library determined
to study computer
science.

Friends, when I look back today at that pivotal meeting, I marvel at
how one role model can alter for the better the future of a young
student. This experience taught me that valuable advice can sometimes
come from an unexpected source, and chance events can sometimes open
new doors.

The next event that left an indelible mark on me occurred in 1974. The
location: Nis , a border town between former Yugoslavia , now Serbia ,
and Bulgaria . I was hitchhiking from Paris back to Mysore , India ,
my home town.

By the time a kind driver dropped me at Nis railway station at 9 p.m.
on a Saturday night, the restaurant was closed. So was the bank the
next morning, and I could not eat because I had no local money. I
slept on the railway platform until 8.30 pm in the night when the
Sofia Express pulled in.

The only passengers in my compartment were a girl and a boy. I struck
a conversation in French with the young girl. She talked about the
travails of living in an iron curtain country, until we were roughly
interrupted by some policemen who, I later gathered, were summoned by
the youn man who thought we were criticising the communist government
of Bulgaria .

The girl was led away; my backpack and sleeping bag were confiscated.
I was dragged along the platform into a small 8x8 foot room with a
cold stone floor and a hole in one corner by way of toilet facilities.
I was held in that bitterly cold room without food or water for over
72 hours.

I had lost all hope of ever seeing the outside world again, when the
door opened. I was again dragged out unceremoniously, locked up in the
guard's compartment on a departing freight train and told that I
would be released 20 hours later upon reaching Istanbul . The guard's
final words still ring in my ears -- "You are from a friendly country
called India and that is why we are letting you go!"

The journey to Istanbul was lonely, and I was starving. This long,
lonely, cold journey forced me to deeply rethink my convictions about
Communism. Early on a dark Thursday morning, after being hungry for
108 hours, I was purged of any last vestiges of affinity for the Left.

I concluded that entrepreneurship, resulting in large-scale job
creation, was the only viable mechanism for eradicating poverty in
societies.

Deep in my heart, I always thank the Bulgarian guards for transforming
me from a confused Leftist into a determined, compassionate capitalist!
Inevitably, this sequence of events led to the eventual founding of
Infosys in 1981.

While these first two events were rather fortuitous, the next two,
both concerning the Infosys journey, were more planned and profoundly
influenced my career trajectory.

On a chilly Saturday morning in winter 1990, five of the seven
founders of Infosys met in our small office in a leafy Bangalore
suburb. The decision at hand was the possible sale of Infosys for the
enticing sum of $1 million. After nine years of toil in the then
business-unfriendly India , we were quite happy at the prospect of
seeing at least some money.

I let my younger colleagues talk about their future plans. Discussions
about the travails of our journey thus far and our future challenges
went on for about four hours. I had not yet spoken a word.

Finally, it was my turn. I spoke about our journey from a small Mumbai
apartment in 1981 that had been beset with many challenges, but also
of how I believed we were at the darkest hour before the dawn. I then
took an audacious step. If they were all bent upon selling the
company, I said, I would buy out all my colleagues, though I did not
have a cent in my pocket.

There was a stunned silence in the room. My colleagues wondered aloud
about my foolhardiness. But I remained silent. However, after an hour
of my arguments, my colleagues changed their minds to my way of
thinking. I urged them that if we wanted to create a great company, we
should be optimistic and confident. They have more than lived up to
their promise of that day.

In the seventeen years since that day, Infosys has grown to revenues
in excess of $3.0 billion, a net income of more than $800 million and
a market capitalisation of more than $28 billion, 28,000 times richer
than the offer of $1 million on that day.

In the process, Infosys has created more than 70,000 well-paying jobs,
2,000-plus dollar-millionaires and 20,000-plus rupee millionaires.

A final story: On a hot summer morning in 1995, a Fortune-10
corporation had sequestered all their Indian software vendors,
including Infosys, in different rooms at the Taj Residency hotel in
Bangalore so that the vendors could not communicate with one another.
This customer's propensity for tough negotiations was well-known. Our
team was very nervous.

First of all, with revenues of only around $5 million, we were minnows
compared to the customer.

Second, this customer contributed fully 25% of our revenues. The loss
of this business would potentially devastate our recently-listed company.

Third, the customer's negotiation style was very aggressive. The
customer team would go from room to room, get the best terms out of
each vendor and then pit one vendor against the other. This went on
for several rounds. Our various arguments why a fair price -- one that
allowed us to invest in good people, R&D, infrastructure, technology
and training -- was actually in their interest failed to cut any ice
with the customer.

By 5 p.m. on the last day, we had to make a decision right on the spot
whether to accept the customer's terms or to walk out.

All eyes were on me as I mulled over the decision. I closed my eyes,
and reflected upon our journey until then. Through many a tough call,
we had always thought about the long-term interests of Infosys. I
communicated clearly to the customer team that we could not accept
their terms, since it could well lead us to letting them down later.
But I promised a smooth, professional transition to a vendor of
customer's choice.

This was a turning point for Infosys.

Subsequently, we created a Risk Mitigation Council which ensured that
we would never again depend too much on any one client, technology,
country, application area or key employee. The crisis was a blessing
in disguise. Today, Infosys has a sound de-risking strategy that has
stabilised its revenues and profits.

I want to share with you, next, the life lessons these events have
taught me.

1. I will begin with the importance of learning from experience. It is
less important, I believe, where you start. It is more important how
and what you learn. If the quality of the learning is high, the
development gradient is steep, and, given time, you can find yourself
in a previously unattainable place. I believe the Infosys story is
living proof of this.

Learning from experience, however, can be complicated. It can be much
more difficult to learn from success than from failure. If we fail,
we think carefully about the precise cause. Success can
indiscriminately reinforce all our prior actions.

2. A second theme concerns the power of chance events. As I think
across a wide variety of settings in my life, I am struck by the
incredible role played by the interplay of chance events with
intentional choices. While the turning points themselves are indeed
often fortuitous, how we respond to them is anything but so. It is
this very quality of how we respond systematically to chance events
that is crucial.

3. Of course, the mindset one works with is also quite critical. As
recent work by the psychologist, Carol Dweck, has shown, it matters
greatly whether one believes in ability as inherent or that it can be
developed. Put simply, the former view, a fixed mindset, creates a
tendency to avoid challenges, to ignore useful negative feedback and
leads such people to plateau early and not achieve their full potential.

The latter view, a growth mindset, leads to a tendency to embrace
challenges, to learn from criticism and such people reach ever higher
levels of achievement (Krakovsky, 2007: page 48).

4. The fourth theme is a cornerstone of the Indian spiritual
tradition: self-knowledge. Indeed, the highest form of knowledge, it
is said, is self-knowledge. I believe this greater awareness and
knowledge of oneself is what ultimately helps develop a more grounded
belief in oneself, courage, determination, and, above all, humility,
all qualities which enable one to wear one's success with dignity and
grace.

Based on my life experiences, I can assert that it is this belief in
learning from experience, a growth mindset, the power of chance
events, and self-reflection that have helped me grow to the present.

Back in the 1960s, the odds of my being in front of you today would
have been zero. Yet here I stand before you! With every successive
step, the odds kept changing in my favour, and it is these life
lessons that made all the difference.

My young friends, I would like to end with some words of advice. Do
you believe that your future is pre-ordained, and is already set? Or,
do you believe that your future is yet to be written and that it will
depend upon the sometimes fortuitous events?

Do you believe that these events can provide turning points to which
you will respond with your energy and enthusiasm? Do you believe that
you will learn from these events and that you will reflect on your
setbacks? Do you believe that you will examine your successes with
even greater care?

I hope you believe that the future will be shaped by several turning
points with great learning opportunities. In fact, this is the path I
have walked to much advantage.

A final word: When, one day, you have made your mark on the world,
remember that, in the ultimate analysis, we are all mere temporary
custodians of the wealth we generate, whether it be financial,
intellectual, or emotional. The best use of all your wealth is to
share it with those less fortunate.

I believe that we have all at some time eaten the fruit from trees
that we did not plant. In the fullness of time, when it is our turn to
give, it behooves us in turn to plant gardens that we may never eat
the fruit of, which will largely benefit generations to come. I
believe this is our sacred responsibility, one that I hope you will
shoulder in time.

Thank you for your patience. Go forth and embrace your future with
open arms, and pursue enthusiastically your own life journey of discovery

Why are IIM directors soft on Arjun Singh and hard on Murli Manohar Joshi, asks Indian Express Editorial.

2007-04-26T07:19:00.000-07:00

Why are IIM directors soft on Arjun Singh and hard on Murli Manohar Joshi, asks Indian Express Editorial.

Why are IIM directors soft on Arjun Singh and hard on Murli Manohar Joshi, asks Indian Express Editorial.

The author is president, Centre for Policy Research

http://www.indianexpress.com/story/29209._.html

Lessons in unreason
Pratap Bhanu Mehta.

The day IIMs caved in to HRD's quota blackmail, higher education lost its last pretence of autonomy

Respected Heads of IIMs: I hope you will pardon my presumptuousness in writing to you like this. But this matter is of some importance. Last week we saw a chilling episode unfold in the history of Indian higher education.

The facts are simple. The Supreme Court has ordered a stay on implementing the OBC quota. In response, IIM Ahmedabad had initially proposed what seemed
like a sensible measure: release the general list of admitted candidates, while withholding the list of candidates admitted under the OBC quota for this year. This list would be released depending upon what transpired in the apex court. This proposal was reasonable. It did not put on hold the academic calendar; nor did it prevent the implementation of OBC
reservations, if the court gave the green signal. But then, the IIMs, following a directive from the HRD ministry, first issued on April 5 and reiterated on April 19, decided to withhold the release of any lists.

Whatever the outcome of the court proceedings, the manner in which the IIMs conducted themselves is outrageous. A terse one-line order issued by a joint
secretary of the Government of India was enough to bring India's mightiest institutions to their knees.

Perhaps it is a sign of just how chilling this episode is that we have even failed to register all that it reveals.

The bane of Indian higher education is that most of it is now governed by political rather than pedagogical considerations. Many excellent universities are now empty shells because they became appendages of the
government: everything, from the academic calendar to appointments, is increasingly determined by ministries and politicians. Even regulatory institutions like the UGC, whose job was to shield universities from egregious government interference, have often become conduits for political design. The lines that separated the professoriate and the civil service are being seriously eroded. Government secretaries now regularly attend meeting of independent regulatory bodies and most states have no compunction putting civil servants in charge of our affairs. But we took solace in the fact that
a few islands of excellence survive, their eminence protecting them from government interference. Alas, this illusion was finally shattered last week.

What was disturbing is that your eminent institutions were becoming a party to the government's attempts to almost blackmail the court. After all, the compromise IIM-A had suggested would have honoured the integrity of all positions; instead you chose to play into government's hands by abetting a scenario of potential chaos that would have ensued if the entire list was
withheld. Of course all institutions, even autonomous ones, have to negotiate with government. But to see the premier institutions put aside all logic, morality and reasonableness to comply with a unnecessary and
illegitimate government order, to see them become party to the government's disrespect for institutional proprieties, was shocking indeed. The public would have sided with you; neither pro- ,nor anti-reservationists would have had reason to disagree with the solution you proposed. Yet you chose to cave in. Is it because you don't trust your own judgment? Is it because you are
no longer capable of providing leadership? Is it because institutional propriety has ceased to matter?

There was also the odour of double standard in what you did. When Murli Manohar Joshi had, in the name of justice, sought to regulate fees, cries of autonomy immediately went up. When Arjun Singh passes an order that is at least as serious, if not more so, there is quiet acceptance. For those of us who have despaired of our successive ministers of education, this double
standard is glaring. Do we now judge institutional proprieties by the yardstick of our ideological allegiances? Whatever may have been your reasons, the effect of your decision will have been to erode the credibility of institutions. The mark of an institution's greatness, after all, is its ability to rise above the taint of partisanship.

I admit readily that running institutions is not easy. The multiple pressures, the diverse demands put on you do not lend themselves to simple solutions. And what can academics do when the political class is hell-bent
on destroying education? What can we do in the face of a seeming political consensus? What can we do when the most academically accomplished prime minister a nation could wish for lets his ministers run riot? But the IIMs
are important just for this reason. India looks to its best institutions not just to build a reputation by selecting a few out of hundreds of thousands of students. It looks to them to provide leadership to society, to extend the boundaries of the possible, and to enlarge our ambitions. But we cannot imagine institutions of higher education being able to do this, if they cannot stand up to governments on behalf of what is right and legal. The IIM
Ahmedabad website proudly makes two claims. First, that the empowerment of faculty has been the propelling force behind the institution. But there is very little evidence of faculty governance in decisions like this. Second, that the institution combines the best of eastern and western values. I wondered what this referred to. After all it was one of the virtues of the Indian tradition that even kshatriyas used to keep their arms outside before entering the gurukula.

Let me be clear. The issue is not reservations. The cause for concern goes even deeper. The IIMs are, in numerical terms, small institutions. But their power to define aspirations is large. In succumbing to the government, in
the manner you did, you disempowered all those who are fighting for values you hold dear: institutional propriety, autonomy, and a proper matching of ends and means. One thing the history of institutions teaches us is that
autonomy has to be earned, it does not inhere in mere statutes. Your faculty, your boards can leverage the power of their eminence to reform higher education, if they so desire. Those of us interested in, and
associated with, India's higher education already feel considerably diminished by the track record of so many institutions. The day IIMs succumbed was truly a sad day, because we felt even smaller.

The writer is president, Centre for Policy Research

IIMs likely to lose autonomy

2007-04-24T06:49:00.000-07:00

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/IIMs_likely_to_lose_autonomy/articleshow/1946866.cms

IIMs likely to lose autonomy
NEW DELHI: Indian Institutes of Management may no longer function as autonomous societies for the government is seriously considering Institutes of Management Bill so that the six premier B-schools are made answerable to Parliament.
Coming within days of IIMs first refusing to toe the government advice of keeping admission list on hold till the OBC reservation issue was settled in the Supreme Court, the move will definitely ruffle IIMs and India Inc. Institutes of Management Bill would be modelled on the lines of the Institutes of Technology Act, 1961, under which the IITs function.
A top government source said consultation on the proposed bill was on with the law ministry. He also sought to allay the apprehension that the proposed law could result in the erosion of the autonomy of IIMs.
‘‘IITs have made a mark for themselves without undermining their autonomy. Government feels functioning of IIMs and IITs need to be brought on par,’’ the source said. HRD ministry officials, however, refused to comment on the development.
If the proposed bill is modelled on the Institutes of Technology Act, there would be definite changes in the administrative and financial powers of IIMs. The B-schools would have a board of governors and a senate as administrative units.
But it is the financial autonomy of IIMs, which gives it the current teeth, which would undergo major change. IIMs, especially Ahmedabad, Bangalore and Kolkata, are not dependent on government funds but once they are brought under an act of Parliament, every IIM would have to maintain a fund in which money provided by the Central government, all fees and other charges received by the institute, money received by way of grants, gifts, donations, benefactions, bequests or transfers and money received by the institute in any other manner or from any other source would be kept.
Even investments would have to be made with the approval of the Central government. Accounts of IIMs would be audited by the Comptroller and Auditor General.

IIM alumni body cites Nehru, files PIL in SC

2007-04-24T06:47:00.000-07:00

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/IIM_alumni_body_cites_Nehru_files_PIL_in_SC/articleshow/1947065.cms

IIM alumni body cites Nehru, files PIL in SC
NEW DELHI: An alumni association of IIM graduates has filed a PIL in the Supreme Court questioning the validity of the 56-year-old caste-based reservation policy saying its continuance has put paid to Jawaharlal Nehru's dream of a "young and vibrant nation free from the vices of caste and communal divide".
The PIL by 'Pan-IIM Alumni Association' quoted a letter written by the country's first PM to the chief ministers, which said: "I dislike any kind of reservation, more particularly in services. I react strongly against anything, which leads to inefficiency and second rate standards. I want my country to be a first class country in everything. The moment we encourage the second rate, we are lost."
The right to primary education remains unenforced even after 60 years of independence, but the ruling class has not blinked in sacrificing the high ideals of Nehru at the altar of vote-bank politics, the PIL said and sought an honest evaluation of the benefits of caste-based reservations.
Clarifying that the association is not against affirmative action of the state, the petitioner said imposition of mandatory reservation in higher education smacked of arbitrariness being without basis.

Opening New IITs

2007-04-24T06:39:00.000-07:00

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Opening_New_IITs/articleshow/1939900.cms

LEADER ARTICLE: Opening New IITs
Pankaj Jalote and B N Jain
[23 Apr, 2007 l 0040 hrs IST]

The government recently said that it would open more Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs). While any move in this direction is welcome, the existing model of wholly state-funded IITs is not amenable to increasing the numbers and enhancing quality.

After the first five IITs which came up three to four decades back, the government has set up only one, in Guwahati. But since the 60s, India's population has doubled and numbers of the educated seeking admission have probably gone up tenfold. Unable to cope, the government started renaming existing institutions as IITs. The key difficulty today in starting an IIT is attracting and retaining good faculty.

To attract quality faculty, we need good students, a vibrant research environment and attractive compensation. Good students are available in plenty in India, at least at the undergraduate level. The challenges lie in the other two areas, and they cannot be met by promoting new IITs exclusively in the government sector due to resource and management constraints in the present model.

In an era of public-private partnerships (PPP), it is worth extending the PPP approach to starting new IITs. Private sector dynamism and long-term social commitment of the government can come together to create quality institutes. A modified BOT (build-operate-transfer) model can be applied here.

The government can specify norms for an IIT and its support for the project. These norms can include autonomy, selection process for students and faculty, reservations, governance structures, and conditions for financial support, such as what it will provide per student and per faculty. It can also specify norms for giving the landand its share of the initial capital for a new IIT.

With these guidelines in place, the government can invite respected individuals and business houses for a partnership to start a new IIT. The project can be executed by the partner, who, apart from bringing his share of the initial capital, can go on to provide ongoing support to the new IIT. This would be in addition to the government lending support as per its norms.

The official salary scale of the IIT faculty can remain the government-approved scale, this coming from government grant. However, the private partner can provide additional compensation to the faculty, pegging this to market levels.

The private player can also provide funds to invite faculty from abroad, something that is difficult to do from government funds. In general, funds provided by the private partner can be used for activities that cannot be undertaken with government money.

In this modified BOT model, the private partner is actually paying money, and not making any, in the B and O phases. Why would a private player participate? Many rich individuals and organisations in India would like to direct their wealth to societal uses, such as academic institutions. Given the IIT brand, it will be easier to get them to start a new IIT than, say, a new college or university.

Since the new institution is an IIT, it would be eligible for research grants and partnership programmes. A fully private university in India will find it almost impossible to support research, as can be seen in most existing private institutes, including well-funded ones. With research funding available from regular funding sources as well as multilateral agencies, an exciting environment can be created, particularly with leadership support from the private sector.

The board of governors can remain the top body of an IIT built through PPP. The government can stipulate that the board will consist of eminent people, specify that a few seats will be nominees of the government, and lay down that the director will be selected by a professional search committee appointed by the board. The initial agreement can last for 20-30 years, after which the IIT may revert to the government, or the arrangement may be extended.

A likely area of contention is the fee structure. Although it can be stated that the IIT can make no profit and extra revenues generated will go towards expanding the institute, there is likely to be a difference in opinion on the level of fees and how it should be determined. One possibility is to have norms where per student support is a function of fees as the fee increases government support decreases.

As part of the agreement, the govern-ment can also state that the new IIT should build mechanisms to create new faculty for itself as well as for other institutions. This is not as hard as it may sound. With incentives, it is possible to attract young graduates to join the PhD programme where they may do a joint PhD with some world-class university (with which this new IIT can get into an MoU, and for which funds will be provided by the private partner) and also do part-time teaching in this new IIT.

The PPP approach, unlike the government one, has reasonable scalability. There is no reason why with different partners, a new IIT cannot be created every couple of years at least for the next decade or so. The new models that are likely to come up in new IITs will also help existing IITs to change and upgrade their management and compensation approaches. With D Sanghi, S Biswas, K Ramamritham and D B Phatak. The writers are IIT professors.

Nanotechnology pesticide filter debuts in India

2007-04-24T06:32:00.000-07:00

http://www.nanowerk.com/news/newsid=1806.php
or
Nanotechnology friendly E-mail this article

Posted: April 20, 2007
Nanotechnology pesticide filter debuts in India
(Nanowerk News) A domestic water filter that uses metal nanoparticles to
remove dissolved pesticide residues is about to enter the Indian market. Its
developers at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in Chennai (formerly
Madras) believe it is the first product of its kind in the world to be
commercialised.
Mumbai-based Eureka Forbes Limited, a company that sells water purification
systems, is collaborating with IIT and has tested the device in the field
for over six months. Jayachandra Reddy, a technical consultant to the
company, expects the first 1000 units to be sold door-to-door from late May.

The pesticide-zapping filter (Image: Thalappil Pradeep)
'Our pesticide filter is an offshoot of basic research on the chemistry of
nanoparticles,' Thalappil Pradeep who led the team at IIT Chennai told
Chemistry World. He and his student Sreekumaran Nair discovered in 2003 that
halocarbons such as carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) completely break down into
metal halides and amorphous carbon upon reaction with gold and silver
nanoparticles ("Halocarbon mineralization and catalytic destruction by metal
nanoparticles"; pdf download 136 KB).
Pradeep said this prompted them to extend their study to include
organochlorine and organophosphorous pesticides, whose presence in water is
posing a health risk in rural India. In research funded by the Department of
Science and Technology in New Delhi, his team found ("Detection and
extraction of endosulfan by metal nanoparticles" and "Extraction of
Chlorpyrifos and Malathion from Water by Metal Nanoparticles" (in: J.
Nanosci. Nanotechnol. 7, 1871–1877 (2007) – not yet published)) that gold
and silver nanoparticles loaded on alumina were indeed able to completely
remove endosulfan, malathion and chlorpyrifos - three pesticides often found
at elevated levels in Indian water supplies.
Use and recycle
The mechanism of removal is 'adsorption followed by catalytic destruction',
Pradeep explained. 'The chemistry occurs in a wide concentration range of
environmental significance.' He added that tests proved silver particles
from the filter are not released into the water. The IIT study found that
gold particles perform better in the case of endosulfan. However, for cost
reasons, the commercialised filters use only silver particles, which range
in size from 60 to 80 nanometres at a concentration (on their alumina
support) of 33 parts per million.
'Based on consumption patterns of a typical Indian household, the filter is
designed to have enough nanomaterials to provide 6000 litres of
pesticide-free water for one year,' Pradeep said. 'After that, the company
will recycle the filters to recover the silver.'
Use of nanoparticles for environmental remediation is an emerging area of
research worldwide. Nanoscale iron powders had been shown to degrade other
pesticides, including DDT and lindane ("Nanoporous zero-valent iron"), 'and
there are reports about the use of nanomaterials for removing arsenic, heavy
metals and fluorides,' said Pradeep. 'But ours is the first product to hit
the market,' he said.
World first
Murali Sastry, chief scientist of TATA Chemicals Innovation Centre in Pune -
India's first nanotechnology research centre in the private sector - agrees.
'What Pradeep has done is definitely novel,' Sastry told Chemistry World. 'I
am not aware of any similar product in the market.'
Eureka already markets a water purifier that combines a sedimentation
chamber with activated carbon filters and UV irradiation, and costs around
Rs8500 (approx. $200). Reddy estimated that adding the x-centimetre-long
nanosilver cartridge (see image) to remove pesticides will increase the
price by 15 per cent, but silver recycling (in an environmentally-friendly
manner, stressed Pradeep) should help to reduce that cost.
Vijayamohanan Pillai, a nanomaterials expert at the National Chemical
Laboratory in Pune, pointed out that it is very rare for an Indian company
to exploit a home-grown nanotechnology. 'Most big companies in India look
abroad for collaboration,' he said. One problem is that scaling up
nanoparticle production is difficult. But Pradeep said his team had taken
three years to attack this problem, and 'Eureka Forbes can now make four
tonnes of silver nanoparticles a month.'
Source: Chemistry World (Killugudi Jayaraman)
nanoNEWS

How Skype has captured India

2007-04-24T06:21:00.000-07:00

On 20/4/07 8:29 PM, "Kumar" wrote:

The other day, I was in an electrical shop, looking for an electrical wall fitting, when a well-dressed lady, in her late 40s or early 50s, walked in. She asked for something, and just then her mobile phone rang. It's not often that you see someone - anyone - so well dressed
in an electrical shop such as the one I was shopping in; this place is usually frequented by the small-time contractor types, and their workers. So, as she answered the phone, I, I'm sorry to say, positioned myself to eavesdrop better. And this is what I heard:

"Oh yes, the computer is on. No, beta, I'm not at home right now. OK, I'm coming home now, and I'll call you on Skype as soon as I get home."

In 15 seconds, she paid for what she had bought, hailed an autorickshaw, and vanished from sight.

That is when it hit me: how Skype has entered the life of so many Indians.

So here we are again, using a product because it's free, useful (actually, vital, to some), and untouched by politicians. But not really sure of who the providers are, and privacy issues. So I did some research on these issues.

First, the who. Skype may have started as, but is no longer, a fly-by-night operation. The Skype Group was acquired by eBay in October 2005, and is headquartered in Luxembourg, with offices in London, Tallinn and Prague. So we have a big name behind it now.

Next, the privacy concern. This is hard to address. Being a closed, proprietary peer-to-peer protocol, we really cannot be sure that it's not been hacked into. It's free, so any attackers aren't doing it for publicity. That makes it all the more scary, because that leaves only two candidates in the field: criminals and governments (come to think of it, the two have a lot in common). Reportedly, Skype uses openly available, strong encryption algorithms. But you have to take their word for it. Just don't even think of terms like "backdoor".

What about worms? Viruses? Trojans? Malware? Nothing ever attacked the good old telephone system except rats, nature, and corrupt PSU employees. But Skype, like all VOIP systems, is primarily software, and primarily residing on a PC, so it is just as vulnerable as any
software on the PC, or the PC itself. And now, specific attacks are being directed on Skype software.

In March 2007, F-Secure detected a new Skype Worm as IM-Worm: W32/Pykse.A. The security company said that the Pykse. A worm spreads via Skype instant messages, posing as a link to a photograph of a scantily clad young model called Sandra. Once a user clicks on the link, and views the image, the user's PC is infected with a downloader Trojan which then installs the worm. Once the Pykse.A worm is up and running, it then attemps to connect to a number of remote Web sites.

The fix: Nothing new. Protect your PC, and Skype will be safe. Just keep your antivirus updated, and be careful of which sites you visit.

m I on the right side of the law? In India, it is legal to use VoIP, but it is illegal to have VoIP gateways inside India. This effectively means that people who have PCs can use them to make a VoIP call to any number anywhere in the world, but if the remote side is a normal phone, the gateway that converts the VoIP call to a POTS call should
not be inside India. So, you're OK making free Skype calls, or even making the paid Skypeout calls (you use your PC to make a call to a normal telephone at the other end). Even if the service provider wrongly locates his gateway inside India, it's not your fault.

Oh, we all know it's free, but what about Quality of Service? It's wrong to look a gift horse in the mouth, but drop-outs and latencies will take the joy away from any call you'll make. To some extent, these weaknesses are shared by all VOIP systems, and are not specific to Skype. So, depending on the state of network congestion, your
mileage may vary. The good news is, more dark fibre is getting lit up every day, so the network is, as they say, "getting better and better".

As with all good happenings in India, when success ensues, can the biggest spoilsport of all - the government - be far behind? Oh, yes, the GOI is very much getting into the act, but fortunately for that
good lady in the shop and millions of others like her, the crackdown on internet telephony services will affect only the outsourcers and other IT businesses. Homes are, so far, exempt.

Net2Phone was an early VoIP company. But somehow Skype has turned out to be the dominant force in VoIP. Skype came later, when broadband had permeated the globe better and the public had become used to the
concept. Globalization also meant a lot more people had to make overseas calls.

Skype had better timing. And marketing. And has captured India.

kumar

Dr. Jamshed Irani of Tata Steel is new IIML Chairman.

2007-04-24T06:07:00.000-07:00

Dr. Jamshed Irani of Tata Steel is new IIML Chairman.

http://www.coolavenues.com/bschools/070402/iiml-chairman-1.php

Dr. Jamshed J. Irani Appointed Chairman, BoG, IIM Lucknow

Ministry of HRD, Government of India, appointed Dr. Jamshed J. Irani Director, TATA Sons Limited, as Chairman, IIM Society and Board of Governors of IIM, Lucknow for a period of 5 years.

With a doctorate in metallurgy from the University of Sheffield, England, Dr. Irani began his career in 1963 as Senior Scientific Officer at the BISRA, Sheffield. In 1968, he joined The Tata Iron & Steel Company Ltd. (TISCO).
He was appointed General Superintendent in 1978, General Manager in 1979 and Managing Director in 1992. After holding the CEO's office for almost a
decade, he retired as the Managing Director of Tata Steel in July 2001. He continues as a Director on the Board of Tata Steel.

The whole IIM Lucknow community is looking forward to learning from the able and visionary leadership of Dr. Jamshed J. Irani," says *Dr. Devi Singh, Director IIM Lucknow.

In Tata Steel, Dr. Irani transformed the company into the sophisticated steel company it is today, both in physical form and attitude. He is looked upon as the 'change agent', which has made the steel behemoth a force to be
reckoned with in the steel manufacturing world. Dr. Irani's personal commitment to quality served as a model for the workforce of Tata Steel to follow, bringing about continuous improvement in all aspects of their work.
Tata Steel is now recognized as one of the lowest cost producers of steel in the world.

He has received a number of awards recognizing his contributions to the company and industry. Prominent among them are the Ernst & Young's *'Lifetime
Achievement Award, 2001'* for entrepreneurial success and the *'Twelfth Willy Korf Steel Vision Award'* from World Steel Dynamics and American Metal Market. Dr. Irani has also been awarded the *Qimpro Platinum Standard* in November 2000, and has received the *Indian Merchants' Chamber's Juran Quality Medal* for the year 2001, for his role as a statesman for quality.

At its Annual General Body Meeting held on 10th July 1996, the *Royal Academy of Engineering, London* elected Dr. Irani as a Foreign Member and he is amongst the five Indians who have been bestowed with this honour. On 14th October 1997 in Delhi, *Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II* conferred on Dr.Irani an *Honorary Knighthood (KBE)*, for his contributions to Indo-British
Trade and Co-operation.

IIT's could do better with the Cream of the Nation

2007-04-24T06:01:00.000-07:00

GG,
You have touched on a very sore point. Your JEE rank determines your branch of engineering even before you find out what engineering is all about. There were chaps who could never do isometrics or visualise 3'd images.

The electronics class was virtually reserved for the top rankers who all chose the branch as it had good job prospects then. Out of a class of about 40 not even ten stuck to electronics. Most went to management and other fields. This to me is a correctable situation.

In Australia admission is based on the University admission Index and students choose what they want to study in any of the state universities

Some one like me dreamed of becoming an electronics engineer and JEE rank denied me the opportunity and forced civil engg down my throat. I had no choice as my dad insisted I had to do Civil too. I believe I wasted so many years at IIT and had to do a masters in Sydney to switch to a field of my choice - Noise control Engineering.

I strongly believe that the branch should be allottted after students complete the second year and after an aptitude test and interview by faculty professors. If faculty can choose their students I am sure IITs will have
much better engineers tha they have been producing in the last 15 years.

It is also sad to see so many IITians joining the recruitment game that needs no B Tech Degree.

All the students who want to do MBA might as well be allowed to study business at IITs as opposed to doing Civil or metallurgy and then switching to finance.

My discussions with recent graduates from IITs suggests the current crop work pretty hard in the first two years and score enough marks ( in the 90's) and then take it easy in third and fourth years where real engineering
is taught and even if they average 70% they are quite happy with the overall aggregate. Now when I say Take it easy it means their focus is in teaching themselves computer languages and programming I am told.

In one way it is a total waste of time for faculty members in Aero, Civil. Metallurgy Chemical etc knowing pretty well that majority of their b tech students will be heading for the IT industry or Finance. And we wonder why
there are no B tech students doing research at IITs

Yes IITs were structured to meet the demands of the sixties and seventies and in the year 2007 there is an urgent need to overhaul the system and produce graduates to meet market demand. What is wrong in limiting Civil, metallurgy, chem, aero etc to just twenty seats and allow 300 students to do computer sciene or computer engg etc ? Every one will be better off in the
end

On 22/4/07 12:37 PM, "gopala GG ganesh" wrote:

> Rambo:
>
> I believe the JEE as currently set up is unfair to poor students, rural
> students and those who are non-English medium. Thanks to technology, this can
> be solved quite effectively and easily. The IITs should jointly set up an
> online coaching scheme which is widely accessible. Students of means will
> access from home, while the others would go to dedicated, subsidized nternet
> cafes franchised to retired teachers that limit access only to coaching
> activities. Among other things, the coaching would incorporate point and click
> explanations of topics, problems ertc, bulletin boards to facilitate student
> to student communications, in all Indian languages In addition, the site
> would provide any number of practice tests etc. Let those students who are
> dedicated enough to make use of the widely available resource do well in the
> JEE. Also, I am not convinced that MPC proficiency equals Engg aptitude. If
> you ask me, the key skill of an engineer is the ability to design things. Is
> this
> tested in the JEE? Had I been asked many moons ago to figure out objects from
> their plan and elevation views, I would have mercifully flunked out of JEE and
> IIT. My good number skills do not make me a good engineer, in spite of doing
> quite well in my rather large Mech Engg branch. After IIT, I could not wait to
> get the hell out of engineering. I probably would have made a good CPA and/or
> income tax lawyer. Helping hide black money legally and playing stricly by all
> existing rules would have been quite lucrative, given the ocean that
> unaccounted money is in India. Too late!
>
> - gg
>

JEE Coaching Schools - Outside the Box Thinking

2007-04-24T05:57:00.000-07:00

JEE Coaching Schools - Outside the Box Thinking

Over the last few years, the IIT JEE Coaching schools especially the ones in Kota and Hyderabad have been blamed again and again for the quality of students who succeed in passing the JEE exams with flying colours. They seem to cop the blame for poorer students who cannot afford these coaching schools as being disadvantaged as a result. These coaching schools are portrayed as greedy opportunists. Yet no one blames the Private schools in India that charge an arm and a leg right from Kindy for not delivering quality education that is good enough to get into IITs

It is also common knowledge that students start preparations for JEE sometimes as early as eighth standard. Imagine these poor children who have to endure this torture for as long as five years of regular schooling as well as JEE Coaching schools. No wonder these kids are burnt out even before they step into IITs and get blamed for not being creative etc etc.

Does it not make sense to give some of these successful JEE Coaching schools due recognition as Special schools that can award the Plus two school certificate ?.
By doing this we can spare the children the torture of physically attending a regular school as a formality only to get attendance to sit for the public exams ?
I am sure most will agree that each and every student studying at JEE Coaching schools will pass the school exams with flying colours. If they are trained to successfully compete in the entrance exams it goes without saying that they are too good for the Board exams. Please do not argue that these schoools do not teach all the subjects. Given the opportunity I am sure they will teach the languages and other humanities subjects as found necessary.

I believe it is time to stop knocking JEE Coaching schools and recognise their valuable contribution to the Indian society at large. From wat I have read and understood JEE Coaching schools are way ahead of all private and public schools. Tell me I am wrong

Assuming HRD Ministry will never accept anything like this that makes sense, we have to take the opposite view and ensure JEE is fair to all students who study the school syllabus by rehashing the JEE altogether wiping out all Coaching schools. Now this will test the creative capabilities of Faculty at IITs who set the JEE question papers for sure.

Something has to change and if we cannot beat them Coaching schools we might as well join them and serve the communities better.

Rambo

JEE Coaching Schools - Outside the Box Thinking

2007-04-21T00:12:00.000-07:00

Rahul says he is ready to talk to anyone on quota issue

2007-04-12T07:11:00.000-07:00

Rahul says he is ready to talk to anyone on quota issue

Wednesday, April 04, 2007 15:04 IST

KANPUR: In the wake of IIT students planning to hold protests on the OBC quota issue during his Uttar Pradesh roadshow, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday said he was ready to talk to anyone, especially the youth on the matter.

"I am ready to talk to anyone, especially the youth. And I would like them to come forward and air their views," Gandhi told reporters here when asked about the protests planned by IIT students.

"My doors are always open for the IIT students and they could come at any time to discuss their problem and some solution would be brought out for their problem," the Amethi MP said.

The Congress leader had said in April last year, when the anti-quota protests were raging across the country, "It is a very complex issue. Both sides have valid points."

Gandhi has been especially targeting the youth during his roadshow in UP in the run-up to the Assembly elections, asking them to come forth with new ideas for development of the state.

He said the main agenda of Congress party was to attract the youth and the chief task of his road show was to create enthusiasm among them for a change of government. "We are getting success in our aim because the youth have easy access
to me," he said.

Earlier, a spokesman of Youth for Equality, which is spearheading the anti-reservation protests, had said IIT students would oppose Rahul Gandhi when his helicopter would land at IIT helipad as the Congress favoured reservation but their plan could not materialise due to strict security.

Brand Equiity: IIT’s branding campaign

2007-04-12T01:21:00.000-07:00

Just when IITians from India thought they were the only ones creating a Brand equity.
Here is news from the other IIT in USA.
Rambo
.....................................

http://technews.iit.edu/index.php?id=222
Brand Equiity: IIT’s branding campaign
by Abhishek Gundugurti

Yes, there have been a ton of T-shirts given out for free. Yes, banners on State Street along the MTCC have words misspelled with ‘iit’ in the middle of them. And while you may think you know what‘s going on, chances are that you don’t. Don’t worry, all of your questions will now be answered.

TechNews will give you the ‘official’ details of IIT’s latest marketing and branding campaign. These are just some of the details you will find in the brochure called ‘Brand Equiity – Building a valued relationship that lasts’. This brochure and IIT’s branding campaign is the brainchild of the Communication and Marketing (C&M) department.

Scott Dunnell (Director of Marketing), Kristine Pasto (Associate Director of Marketing) , Nancy Schoon (Art Director in charge of the visual aspects of the campaign) and Hyme Jamie BanuelosDeLaMore (a student intern who helped gather student input and feedback during the campaign’s research phase) served as team leaders/members. Rose Milkowski, IIT’s Chief Communications Officer, was kind enough to offer TechNews an interview in regards to the idea behind the campaign and the planning that went into it.

The process began a little before October 2006, and first two months included focus groups and in-depth interviews involving over 200 alumni, current students, faculty, parents, prospective students, staff and trustees. In December 2006, there was strategic planning involving the entire IIT community. In the first two months of this year, test marketing of the new branding campaign was conducted during the graduate open house sessions. In February, the C&M department worked on completing the material that would be used for both internal and external campaign branding. The official kickoff date was on March 29 and on April 2, it was launched in Chicago and revealed to the entire IIT student body through a wide range of giveaways and freebees.

The branding campaign is intended to reflect the university’s four foundation messages: An Academic experience grounded in engineering, science and technology (Curiosiity), Exceptional students with an intense work ethic (Tenaciity), Innovation and entrepreneurialism (Ingenuiity) and Chicago – a total urban experience (Ciity Life). IIT President Lewis Collens issued the charge to develop a full-fledged branding campaign for IIT based on these principles and the C&M department, which engaged more than 250 members of the university community, developed the program in eight months. Programs of this kind normally take 15 months to develop and implement.

In the official letter, which is given along with the branding campaign, Milkowski states that “This is a strong step towards enhancing the visibility of our university and building a more solid understanding of the great attributes of Illinois Institute of Technology”. It remains to been seen how well the IIT community and others from across the city (and eventually, the country) accepts this new branding campaign.

Sources: Some details mentioned in this article are from the brochure of the marketing campaign.

Reservation row: IIT, IIM admissions put on hold

2007-04-12T01:06:00.000-07:00

http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/story.aspx?id=NEWEN20070008157

Reservation row: IIT, IIM admissions put on hold

Aradhana Sharma & Manu Sharma Sachdev

Monday, April 9, 2007 (New Delhi)

IIM aspirants who were to find out on Thursday whether they made it to the premier business school or not will now have to wait.

The Union HRD Ministry sent out a letter to all centrally-aided institutes, including the IIMs and IITs, asking them to withhold declaration of entrance examination results till the Supreme Court decided whether or not to lift the stay on implementation of OBC quotas in this academic session.

The letter from the HRD Ministry states:

"You are advised not to issue any offers of admissions in institutes under your control for the ensuing academic session until you receive further communication in this regard from the central government."

Students affected

The students affected most are the IIM aspirants, as the results of entrance exams for most centrally-aided institutes, including IIT-JEE, will now be out much later.

Still, students expressed surprise at this sudden turn of events.

The decision to implement quotas in a staggered manner over three years was taken at the UPA-Left Coordination Committee meeting on Friday despite the Supreme Court stay.

Institutes like the IIT are hopeful that this quota mess will sort itself out before the new academic session begins.

Reactions to HRD order

"We anyway don't declare results till May 30. The question of holding results does not apply. The process of checking papers will carry on as usual.

"If the Supreme Court decision does not come by May 30, then we will consider holding back the results," said Prof H S Pandalia, Chairman Joint Entrance Exam, IIT.

The government will file a review petition in the Supreme Court seeking an early hearing of its plea to vacate the stay ordered on the OBC quotas.

It is hoping that it will be able to carry out admissions for general and OBC categories simultaneously.

2007-04-12T00:58:00.000-07:00

http://www.hindu.com/2007/04/09/stories/2007040915600400.htm

Less taxing IIT-JEE pattern

Meera Srinivasan

Drop in number of students appearing for the examination

WHAT'S YOUR ANSWER? Students discuss the paper after their afternoon session of the JEE at MGR Janaki Arts and Science College in Chennai on Sunday. — PHOTO: K.V.SRINIVASAN

CHENNAI: About 6,000 students took the Indian Institute of Technology-Joint Entrance Examination (IIT-JEE) in 12 centres across the city on Sunday. A total of 2.5 lakh students appeared for the examination all over the country.

This year's examination pattern was different from last year's, which had papers in mathematics, physics and chemistry for two hours each. Sunday's examination was conducted over two sessions of three hours each, with a two-hour break in between.

Students attempted two objective-type question papers, both with sections in mathematics, physics and chemistry. The three subjects were allotted 81 marks each.

Students were tested through four types of questions — multiple choice, assertion and reasoning, reading comprehension and match the following.

IIT-JEE (south zone) chairman Shreepad Karmalkar said the testing pattern was changed as they found last year's pattern very taxing.

This year, nearly 9,500 students from Tamil Nadu appeared for the examination in 23 centres.

A total of 40,000 students wrote the examination in 97 centres in the south zone that covers Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh.

Mr.Karmalkar pointed to a six per cent drop in the number of students taking the examination in the south zone.

This year's examination was largely perceived as reasonably easy.

S. Balasubramanian, director, T.I.M.E., an institute that trains students for various competitive examinations, said the examination was easier compared to last year's. An IIT-Madras alumnus himself, Mr. Balasubramanian said both papers (morning and afternoon) were similar in structure and difficulty level.

Students, too, seem to have found the paper easy.

"It was easier than expected. I have been studying hard for the JEE ... my dream is to make it to an IIT," said K. J. Arun, a student of MCC Higher Secondary School.

S. Aravind of P.S. Senior Secondary School said, "Some of the questions seemed challenging, as the pattern was new. However, I am quite satisfied with my performance."

This year's JEE also assumes significance in the context of the Union Ministry of Human Resource Development directing the Indian Institutes of Management, (IIMs), Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and other centrally-funded institutions of higher learning to put admissions on hold.

The instruction followed the Supreme Court's stay on 27 per cent reservation for Other Backward Classes (OBCs).

Last year, about three lakh students in the country competed for the 5,500 seats offered across seven IITs.

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Lakhs appear in IIT exam, hail new format

2007-04-12T00:51:00.000-07:00

http://www.zeenews.com/articles.asp?aid=364693&sid=NAT&ssid=

Lakhs appear in IIT exam, hail new format

New Delhi, April 8: Over 2.5 lakh students across the country on Sunday appeared in the joint entrance examination (JEE) for admission to the prestigious IITs with the tests passing off smoothly.

Adequate arrangements were made in the Delhi zone, which consists of the national capital region, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Punjab, for conducting the test, IIT-Delhi Director Surendra Prasad told.

"There are 48,000 candidates in the Delhi zone, including 33,000 in the NCR. In this zone, we set up 104 centres, including 74 in the capital," he said.

Many students said they were satisfied with their performance.

"The questions were slightly easy. The students were very happy over their performance," said Sharad Awasti of career launcher, an institute that coaches students for the test.

Awasti said most students could answer the test in time.

The test comprised two papers of 200 marks each. To ease the exam blues for students, the pattern of the IIT-JEE was changed this year with only two papers in place of three. Each paper consisted of questions in physics, chemistry and mathematics.

Earlier, students appeared for three papers, one each dealing with physics, chemistry and mathematics. The papers earlier were of two hour`s duration.

The questions are of objective type and there is negative marking for incorrect answers, Prasad said.

There are over 4,000 seats in the IITs, which were supposed to increase seats to implement a 27 per cent quota for OBCs, which has been put on hold by the Supreme Court`s stay.

New format hailed

A new but easy format and more time gave the 250,000 students sitting for the IIT entrance exam on Sunday a pleasant surprise.

"The paper was fun," remarked Bhargavi, a student who appeared at Chennai for the Indian Institute of Technology Joint Entrance Examination (IIT-JEE).

"The best and most welcome change in the exam was that it`s a more objective than subjective paper and there is no negative marking for the long answers," she said.

Unlike last year, when students had to tackle three papers Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry, of two hours duration each, this year they had to answer two papers of three-hour duration each.

The IIT-JEE exam has been undergoing changes for sometime now. Until 2005 the examination had two stages. Those qualifying a screening test sat for the main exam. But since last year, a one-stage examination has been introduced.

Nearly 250,000 students took the exam on Sunday, competing for the 4,000 seats in the seven IITs, as compared to 300,000 students who took the paper last year.

Since there has been no concrete decision yet on the 27 per cent reservation for Other Backward Classes (OBC), there has been no change in the number of seats as well. But some students do admit that the quota game was playing at the back of their minds.

"I don`t have any kind of quota so I admit that I was a little worried about the entire quota scene which was on the boil again. But now that the court order has been stayed and the paper was relatively easy, I am relieved!" said Namrata Sharma, an IIT aspirant from Guwahati.

Some students from Bangalore were, however, disappointed because the paper was right in the middle of their class 12 exams.

"I would probably have been more satisfied with my performance if I didn`t have to divide my study time between my board exams and the IIT JEE. But my priority remains IIT so I tried concentrating on it more," said Udayan Joshi of Bangalore.

Barring a few, students were overall quite satisfied with their performance.

New-format IIT-JEE today, 2.5 lakh to appear

2007-04-12T00:40:00.000-07:00

http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?id=b41b4030-fd41-4711-8d74-ccfbc3586daa&

New-format IIT-JEE today, 2.5 lakh to appear

Over 2.5 lakh students will appear for Indian Institute of Technology — Joint Entrance Examination on Sunday. These candidates will be contesting for 4,000-odd seats spread over seven institutes in India. With no decision taken on the OBC quota so far, there has been no increase in seats in the IITs.

Till last year, students had to appear for three papers — physics, chemistry and mathematics — of two hours' duration each. This year, candidates will answer two papers. Negative marking for incorrect responses will continue, however.
The management said that the change in the structure was based on logistics.

“Parents and students coming to big cities were facing difficulty with the long and odd hours of the exam. So in order to relieve them of added stress, the change was devised,” said Surendra Prasad, IIT Director.

With a new testing format, the challenges are many for those contesting the limited number of seats. “The last time also they had altered the pattern due to which there was some amount of nervousness, I wouldn’t say there are no jitters this time, but I am fairly confident,” said Ankur Mehta from Faridabad.

The entrance exam pattern has been undergoing changes since last year. Until 2005, there were two stages of tests in the IIT-JEE. The students were required to appear for a screening test and those qualifying the test were allowed to sit for the main exam. However, a one-stage examination was introduced last year.

“I have been preparing myself according to the changes in the structure so that is not so much of a worry. Since this is my last and final attempt, I am very anxious,” said Vaibhav Maheshwari from Mathura.

For first-time aspirant Shweta Pandey, the changed pattern is a boon. “I hate writing long and subjective answers and change to objective questions is a welcome option,” she said. ‘I think this is slightly less taxing though the amount of energy we put in is exactly the same.”

Pandey has been preparing for the exam since the last two years. “Objective answering will help in fetching higher scores,” said Siddharth Goyal from Vasant Vihar, who sounded a little worried about negative marking.

OBC quota: SC order impacts IIT aspirants

2007-04-12T00:36:00.000-07:00

http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/story.aspx?id=NEWEN20070007917

OBC quota: SC order impacts IIT aspirants

Rati Ramadas

Friday, April 6, 2007 (New Delhi)

The IIT entrance exam may be just a few days away but with the Supreme Court staying the OBC quota implementation this year, hundreds of students banking on these seats are suddenly caught off guard.

Rahul Kumar was banking on the reservation for OBC students for an IIT seat. Rahul moved from Darbhanga to Delhi where he could get better coaching.

But after the Supreme Court's decision, he can no longer take a chance at writing the exam as he has already used one of the two shots given to a candidate.

Rahul's dream is to work in the UK as a computer engineer but he has little option but to wait for next year and hope that there will be reservations.

"I am just very frustrated. I don't know what to do now. It's unbelievable that the court would not allow this to happen. Thousands of students like me are left wondering what our next step should be now," he said.

Economic basis

In another part of the Capital, Uttkarsh Kumar wasn't planning to use his OBC certificate to get into IIT. He was instead banking on merit.

In fact he can't understand why people from his community need reservation.

"Reservations will only keep reminding us of the gap between the general category and the OBCs. If you need reservations, it has to be on economic basis. Dhoni is my idol. Look how he made it to the top. He is from Jharkhand from a poor family. If he can so can I," said Uttkarsh Kumar.

At a coaching institute for the IIT entrance exam, there is barely any time to think about the quota controversy.

Students like Kustav Mohanty argue that the anti-reservation protests have been unfair to OBC students.

"It is very important to spare a thought for those who do not have the same opportunities that are available to us. Keeping a certain section of seats reserved for these children only serves to help them out. So while it was a trend to be anti reservation, you just need to stop and think," said Kustuv.

For many students, reserved seats in the country's premier institutes probably brought them one step closer to their dream.

But with the Supreme Court now staying the implementation, their future is ridden with uncertainty, perhaps a major reason why even those against reservations are being forced to rethink.

New exam format worries IIT aspirants

2007-04-12T00:31:00.000-07:00

http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?NewsID=1089382

New exam format worries IIT aspirants

Shweta Shertukde

Saturday, April 07, 2007 00:53 IST

The clock is ticking for IIT aspirants. And the changed pattern of the IIT-Joint Entrance Exam (JEE) this year is the key to glory for the students who have been burning the midnight oil for months on end.

In fact, aspirants have expressed their apprehensions on whether the new pattern for the exam, scheduled for Sunday, will make their entry into the country’s premier engineering institutes any easier.

This year’s JEE will involve two exams instead of the earlier three which tested a student on three primary subjects - Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics - in three papers of three-hour duration each. In the newly-devised exam pattern, the students will now have to appear for all the above-mentioned three subjects in two papers of three-hour duration each, with the the topics divided into two.

Educationists feel the changed exam pattern will pose a challenge that involves time-management while solving the papers. “Managing time will be the most crucial factor for this year’s JEE examinees. Students should remember that this time, they will have only 60 minutes to solve one subject paper instead of the earlier three hours alloted for each subject.

“The JEE board has decided to have both exams of equal level of difficulty, thereby, testing their mental and psychological strengths,” says Shiva Kumar, director of academics at Career Launcher, an institute that specialises in preparing students for the IIT-JEE.

A further analysis of the new exam pattern, according to the educationists, pointed to the fact that more attention was being given to the CBSE and NCERT syllabus, with the JEE trying to assess the students’ in-depth knowledge of a particular subjects.

Although the aspirants for the Sunday exam have welcomed the new paper pattern as a challenge posed by the IITs, they fear that it will make the exam a difficult nut to crack. “It is a good move for assessing the students’ intellectual ability and helping them to explore it to the fullest. Each year, the JEE is becoming tougher and posing newer challenges for IIT aspirants,” said Kunal Parekh, an IIT-JEE aspirant.

Says another aspirant Siddharth Upekar, “The exam pattern followed last year was good as compared to the new one. This time round, the students will need to be extra careful about the time they spend on each paper and will have to distribute the three hours available to them depending upon the difficulty level of each subject.”

It’s not just the changed exam paper pattern that has created confusion among the aspirants, but also the recent Supreme Court judgment that has declared a stay on the 27 per cent OBC quota in the IITs and IIMs. The confusion that prevails is whether the IITs across the country have revoked their decision of implementing the 27 per cent OBC quota or not.

“The admit card distributed to us mentions separate schedules being allotted for counseling session of those belonging to the OBC category and the open category. Thus, the information mentioned in the admit card clashes with the recent SC judgement on the OBC quota,” said Sayantani Chowdhury, an IIT-JEE aspirant.

However, IIT officials clarify that care will be taken that all students will be allowed to appear for the JEE and nobody deprived of their legitimate rights.

They have also assured to streamline the admission process and resolve the prevailing confusion among the student fraternity, they say.

IITs

2007-04-07T19:35:00.000-07:00

An indepth assessment of IITs by Sailesh Gandhi. There was a time in india where there was a huge demand to get into Central schools......... Guess what happened over the years . IITs will suffer the same fate if we don't stem the rot. What we see in 2007 are IITs built and labs equipped in the sixties. The world of technology has moved on and all that IITs have to go by now is a Brand name and brilliant students who deserve a better and well rounded education.
According to the laws of gravity everything that goes up has to come down, unless we make a consciuous effort to keep it up there by meeting the demands of the changing world.

It is strange that HRD Minister rejects a satellite IITB based in Gujerat which makes a lot of sense, yet pushes the idea of seven more Deemed IITs and dooms the lot with 50% reservations.

I was glad to see MMJ go and I would be happier to see Arjun disappear as well. Perhaps we should push for Laloo to become HRD Minister and he may even listen to what we have to say as he is some one who is prettty astute and street smart.

Sailesh, Yeh Dosh Hamara bhi hai
The question is what can interested alumni do about it ?

Rambo

Date: Fri, 06 Apr 2007 17:25:24 +0530
From: shailesh Gandhi
Subject: IITs
Sender: shailesh2@vsnl.com

The Nation needs more facilities for education for its youth. There is a consistent refrain for allowing greater private capital into education, to ensure better quality. If there was any opinion poll on whether we should increase our IIT graduates, there would be unanimity in this, with funds being the only constraint. Yes, we might go around with a begging bowl, and feel very grateful if some rich donor were to offer the money. It would also be arranged that he would have very large say in the running of the Institution, including admissions.

However, Right to Information reveals that if the IITs are to be owned by the people of India, with only an annual cost of about 40 crores to be borne by the Central Government, the HRD ministry will refuse permission! The HRD ministry’s job is to ensure that more opportunities are made available for human development, the stake of the people of India goes up, particularly in terms of elite Institutions like IITs. But it appears to feel its job is to exercise its arrogance and instead of facilitating the growth of National Institutions, it scuttles them. Here is the exact way in which it is restraining the growth of the IITs and greater opportunities for the youth to get an IIT education. This information was obtained after an inspection of files relating to this matter under RTI.

The Gujarat Government made an offer to IIT Bombay to set up a satellite campus of IIT Bombay in Gujarat, with an offer to give 300 acres land free, no property tax, and also agreed to provide Rs. 500 crores for the capital expenses required to set up a campus initially for 1500 students. This could ultimately be increased to about 5000 students. The management would be done exclusively by IIT Bombay, and the Institute would have complete autonomy and no interference from the Gujarat Government. In short this Satellite campus of IIT would an extension of IIT Bombay, with only the running costs being borne by the Central Government. Everything would be the ownership and control of IIT Bombay. For nine months, IIT Bombay,- with the approval of its Board of Governors,- worked out the details of how this campus could come up and be operational so that its twin objectives of spreading the intake of students to benefit the large number of students aspiring for its courses could be met.

At a meeting in Delhi, Directors of IIT Bombay, Delhi and Madras all expressed their problem of space constraint for increasing the intake of students. The Secretary –HE (Higher Education, who probably thinks it means His Excellency), - shot down the proposals for Satellite campuses with the diktat that this was the domain of the Central Government (read HE, or HRD minister?). It is a shame that in the last few years, HRD instead of being a facilitator for Education, has become a fiefdom for exercising its powers and autocratic authority. The HRD ministry has been pushing for increasing the student strength without increasing the funds or facilities. This has been particularly true about the IITs and if this trend if allowed to continue, it will ensure that the autonomy and independence of IITs is strangled until they are reduced to the level of the Municipal schools. IIT Alumni and the Nation must ensure that the Government does not dilute the excellence achieved by the collective wisdom, efforts and money of the people of India. They can rally to make the Government allow the IITs to grow and proper on their path to excellence. The first step would be to allow the Satellite campus at Gujarat. Many more campuses can follow on the same lines across the Nation, with the ownership and control continuing with the people of India.

The key events revealed by the papers:

1. 23 February, 2006- Gujarat Government through its Principal Secretary,-Education,- P. Panneervel invites IIT Bombay to set up a campus in Gujarat.

2. 11 August, 2006- Board of Governors of IIT Bombay authorizes the detailed proposal, which envisages a capital cost of 600 crores and a recurring cost of Rs.37.5 crores after five years. It also mentions that Gujarat Government would mobilize the initial funds for campus construction.

3. 20 October, 2006- IIT Bombay Director seeks approval for the HRD Ministry.

4. 13 November, 2006- Gujarat Government agrees to MOU as per IIT Bombay’s suggestions.

5. 14 November, 2006 Shri P. Panneervel informed the Board of Governors that the Gujarat Government would arrange Rs.500 crores towards capital investment for the campus, in addition to the required land.

6. 14 December, 2006- Secretary HE at a meeting with IIT Directors states, that this decision can only be taken by the Central Government and tells the Directors to develop concept papers for such expansions. (HE probably meant that the IITs should produce more research papers).

shailesh gandhi
Mumbai

Love
shailesh
022 32903776
All my mails are in Public domain,
and do share them if you wish.
www.satyamevajayate.info
Mera Bharat Mahaan...
Nahi Hai,
Per Yeh Dosh Mera Hai.

A force for change sparks innovation in India

2007-04-07T06:08:00.000-07:00

March 3, 2007, 7:26PM
A force for change sparks innovation in India

Professor pushes entrepreneurial thinking to create hope in rural areas

ALAN T. SARACEVIC
San Francisco Chronicle


CHENNAI, INDIA — Tucked away on a leafy college campus in this booming
city of 7 million is a fiery 54-year-old professor who wants to change
the way India does business.

Ashok Jhunjhunwala doesn't teach business, though. He teaches
engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology in Chennai, one of
the universities that helps make up India's world-class system of
technical schools.

The IITs, as they are known around the globe, have a long history of
turning out top engineers. Thousands of their graduates have
flourished in the global technology marketplace. Many have also stayed
home, or returned to India, to help fuel the world's most quickly
growing tech economy.

But now academics like Jhunjhunwala along with the country's business
leaders want more for their students than good jobs. They're hoping to
instill in their graduates the spirit of innovation and incubation
that has been the earmark of Silicon Valley for decades. They want to
use technological invention to help India ascend.

To put it bluntly, India is sick and tired of simply cranking out the
world's best engineers. It now wants to create the world's best ideas.

To do so, it will borrow heavily from the model perfected in the U.S.
Silicon Valley, where the academics of Stanford mix with bankers and
business experts to create opportunity.

Graduates return home

Not surprisingly, many of the top supporters of IITs push into
"entrepreneurism" are the very graduates who found their way to the
San Francisco Bay Area over the past 20 or 30 years. The lessons
they've learned are now being passed back to their alma mater.

"IIT always undervalued innovation," said Jhunjhunwala, sounding a
tone somewhere between disappointed and indignant. "That's changing,
and so is our culture. You have to have the confidence and the ability
to innovate. What's great about the U.S. is they allow you to fail."

And, in a weird way, learning to fail could be the key to India's
future. The theory goes that fostering an entrepreneurial climate will
help the country overcome the massive internal social issues it faces,
mostly centered on poverty and illiteracy. The Indian intelligentsia
believe deeply that the solutions to these basic social dilemmas will
come from enterprise rather than government.

But that's not the only motivation. From a pure business standpoint,
innovating and creating its own Microsofts and Ciscos logically stands
to benefit India's spot in the global marketplace.

For over a decade now, this country's technology environment has been
built on cost arbitrage or, in plain English, cheap labor. And while
that has served India well, lifting the economy at a pace matched only
by China, the next level of global competitiveness lies in creating
markets, rather than serving them.

So professors like Jhunjhunwala are creating business incubators and
helping students grow into entrepreneurs, fighting to foster a
risk-taking, innovative culture. But as with any fight, there is
resistance.

The reluctant director

Halfway across the IIT campus in Chennai, a city formerly known as
Madras, M.S. Ananth sits in his well-appointed office overlooking the
campus, considering the direction his star professor is taking over in
the electrical engineering department.

Ananth is a chemical engineer by trade but a philosopher by
personality who finished his graduate work at the University of
Florida. He likes to say things like, "Education is the art of living
gracefully in ignorance." He's a traditional academic who wonders
about the role business should play in academia. And he happens to be
Jhunjhunwala's boss, serving as director of IIT Madras for five years.

Primarily, Ananth is concerned that U.S. academic models are creeping
into the IIT system. He worries that "people who are bringing in money
are getting more and more important. That worries me about the U.S.
graduate schools." And it's beginning to worry him about IIT as well.

"As teachers, we were taught that once you learn something, you go to
class and tell people about it," Ananth said. "Now, you go and patent it."

The concern is that profit motive will supersede the search for
knowledge, a notion that academics in the United States wrestled with
in the 1960s.

At Stanford, businesses stemming from academic research are so common
now that the university doesn't even have a formal business incubator.
Entrepreneurship is in the culture.

Rajeev Motwani, a Stanford computer science professor and a 1983 IIT
graduate, understands where the director is coming from but doesn't
see any real threat.

"The IITs are doing the right thing. They have to jump-start the
process," Motwani said. "And one way to do it is to create an
institutional incubation process. It's good for society at large. The
only catch, I suppose, would be conflicts of interest. Are academic
principles being violated? It's a question, but I'm not concerned
about that."

Not in denial

Despite his misgivings, Ananth is not in denial. He understands the IT
boom has created entrepreneurial possibilities never imagined by
chemical engineers of his generation. And so he is overseeing the
creation of a research and development park on the grounds of IIT
Madras, where 620 acres of "academic land," as he put it, will be
transformed into a center where private industry can intermingle with
academic innovation.

"Research parks have made tremendous contributions," Ananth said. "But
you must maintain the academic environment. The university is a place
where you look for unity in concepts."

And it's a place where young students hope to change the world.

Whatever tension may exist on a theoretical level at the IIT is less
evident on a practical plane. Jhunjhunwala and some of his colleagues,
for instance, recognized that his university did not want to get into
the venture capital business. So, true to his philosophy, he innovated.

The professor created a business incubator called the Tenet Group to
help foster technology startups. But, in a classic Indian twist, the
mandate is quite different.

Rather than trying to build the next Yahoo or Google to serve the
world, Tenet's entrepreneurs are hoping to serve the needs of rural India.

As Jhunjhunwala put it: "We formed Tenet with the objective of taking
IIT students to the next level. We also decided to focus on rural
areas, where 700 million of India's 1.1 billion people still live.
We're trying to show that innovation can happen in our own markets. In
doing so, we're coming up with new ideas to help the nation."

Walking around the group's offices, which are integrated into the IIT
campus, one can see many examples of this "socially conscious
entrepreneurship":

•Midas Communications Ltd., one of the earliest Tenet companies, has
grown to deliver telecom services to millions across India using
breakthrough wireless routing. The company employs 600 in Chennai and
does business in 25 other countries.

•Oops Private Ltd. is creating ways to bring video conferencing to
remote villages, using the existing, low-end technologies available.
Oops has figured out a way to do video conferencing on bandwidth as
low as 20 Kbps, allowing kids to attend classes with teachers hundreds
of miles away.

•ReMeDi Ltd. is using similar bandwidth optimization technology to
help villages that have no doctors. And they're delivering the systems
for the equivalent of $250.

The list goes on. Low-cost weather stations. Rural ATMs that cost
about $1,200 compared with the usual $10,000 to $15,000. Thin-client
computers that cost about $100. It's all coming out of an IIT system
once derided for a lack of innovation.

Saloni Desi Crew is a 25-year-old entrepreneur working with Tenet to
create job-training software for small villages so people can be
trained to perform data entry and indexing jobs for clients around the
world.

20 job centers

She has about 20 job centers in rural India, employing about 60 people.

"It's the best for everyone involved," Desi Crew said. "Cost-cutting
for the client. Work for the rural areas."

Whether these ideas translate into real money and big companies
remains to be seen, although Jhunjhunwala stresses that the rural
solutions that work in India would logically translate to
underdeveloped nations worldwide.

If anything, the people behind the Tenet Group hope to do even more.
As one of their signs in the hallway says, their dreams are big:
"Doubling per-capita rural GDP of India" and "Building a few
billion-dollar telecom product companies in India."

A key obstacle

One of the key obstacles facing India's push to create a high-flying
startup culture is the environment in which the students and
entrepreneurs operate.

There is no institutional memory to tap into, no history or tradition
of entrepreneurship to cull. But there is a scattering of successful
IIT graduates to draw from.

In the Bay Area, groups like the Indus Entrepreneurs and Pan IIT have
formed to help Indian startups stateside and back in India. They offer
practical advice and even venture capital in some instances.

Indeed, in Chennai, Professor Jhunjhunwala sees his vision being realized.

"Innovation happens when three types get together: a professor, an
experienced businessperson and a student who does not know it can't be
done," Jhunjhunwala said.

-----------------

kumar

FYI Deemed IITs letter to President of india Jan 2006

2007-04-07T05:55:00.000-07:00

31^st January 2006

Hon. President Dr Abdul Kalam,
Hon. Prime Minister Dr.Manmohan Singh
Hon. HRD Minister Mr. Arjun Singh,
Hon Minister of State for HRD Mr. Mohd. Ali Ashraf Fatmi

Re: More Deemed IITs that have been proposed by HRD Ministry

A group of concerned alumni from IITs have created a public petition in response to news from media that HRD Ministry proposes to rename seven existing engineering colleges that have been short listed, as IITs so that they can be funded on par with IITs. We do not want to believe that this is factual yet cannot afford not to convey our concerns in case media reports turn out to be correct..

The text of the petition as has been signed by over 3200 concerned IIT alumni & Indian Citizens world wide is copied under for your perusal.

Matching funding alone cannot convert any existing institution into an IIT. Seven IITs as it is are struggling to find suitably qualified and talented faculty members to fill vacancies. This being the case how are we going to find the best faculty for fourteen IITs to maintain standards ?

The colleges short listed have been around for many years and are currently serving the needs of the State where they are located. Once they are renamed as IITs their intake will be from the National JEE Pool. This creates a problem for the students of the concerned state who do not take or pass JEE.. Will we not be affecting these students who will be forced instead of attending an REC for example to look for admission in engineering colleges interstate or overseas, where they will stand very little chance unless they pay huge fortunes ?? This could have serious consequences for the concerned states in the long run as one REC will disappear every time one REC gets converted to an IIT

When PM Rajiv Gandhi created IIT Guahati, the Nation applauded the move.. This was not the same when Roorkee University was renamed IIT Roorkee.

There is also this constant demand from many states clamoring for an IIT. This however does not make sense at all, as IITs are autonomous and state governments have no influence on them. Plus student intake is from a national exam and does not even serve the students of the state.. Most people seem to miss this point as the location of a new IIT is not at all relevant.. We could create an IIT in the deserts of Rajhastan or for that matter on a floating platform at sea and still make it function like all existing IITs, maintaining the discipline and culture

We are not at all against creation of Brand new IITs. In fact more IITs will serve the nation better by meeting the demand. What we are opposed to is the government wanting to rename existing institutions as IITs. The reason is simple, if you begin an institution from scratch with certain vision and mission, it will shape up accordingly. Therefore, we are happy with sixth new IIT at Guwahati. However, we are not comfortable with University of Roorkee being renamed as the seventh IIT. This has resulted in the crisis of identity for UoR - just imagine the senior alumni of UoR before renaming not being clear whether to call themselves as alumni of UoR or IITR.

Also just by renaming we cannot overnight change the culture of an existing institution. You will, therefore, kindly appreciate that renaming will in fact dilute, undermine and create confusion about the brand equity which IITs have achieved over the last fifty years.

As an analogy, every mother would love to give birth to her own babies and when she is not fortunate she would adopt young babies and nurture them. However adopting & fostering teenagers and adults who are set in their ways and expecting them to change and remould is unimaginable

It has taken a long time for the IITs to establish their brand image and one of the concerns of IIT Alumni is getting this image tarnished by institutions of lower standards lacking in academic rigor being renamed as IITs. There seems to be no doubt about the need for more IITs and IIMs looking at the size of

India

and the talent pool available.

The real concern seems to be that the institutions renamed as IITs may not have the academic rigor needed to be equated with IITs. It takes a very long time to develop a culture like that of IITs. Overnight renaming of institutions as IITs is not a solution to for India's need for superior technical and management manpower to meet demand. It is very difficult to change the culture of state run institution under the University System.

Yes, some of the RECs may qualify to be upgraded to the status equal to that of IITs after an incubation period. First they should be upgraded and the necessary changes incorporated in their working, facility, recruitment, administration and most importantly the academic rigor. The existing IITs together with their Alumni must be allowed a say to decide whether another institution qualifies to be renamed as an IIT without any government interference, assuming IITs are truly autonomous .

If the Government of India is really serious about encouraging quality higher education, they should develop New IITs at least one in each state to suit market demand. The core of the whole issue is funding. The Government of India and the state governments do not seem to be willing to invest money in the future of the country's higher education. Otherwise what prevents the government to establish new IITs? It seems that GOI simply wants to please some of the states or their political allies by the renaming exercise without allocating additional resources.

Another important issue is affecting the academic rigor is the shortage of quality faculty. Unless the Government of India is willing to offer much better pay scales and service conditions, it would be very difficult to get quality faculty to run even the existing IITs and maintain current high standards leave alone seven more.

Please keep the nations dream alive and perhaps create a new IIT each year with foreign collaboration following the exact model that became a roaring success called IITs. This would make the new IITs state of the art engineering schools even far more advanced in terms of laboratories and equipment than current seven Its.

Sirs, IITians have been branded in many quarters as self centered individuals who got the best education using Indian taxpayers money only to migrate enmass to

USA

for better careers..causing brain drain..

As we all know charity begins at home and on aircrafts passengers are instructed to adorn the Oxygen mask first before attending to children..

We IITians of yester years had very little scope for employment in India when we graduated. One’s who were fortunate stayed back and the less fortunate or those who wanted to study further went abroad. It was merely a supply and demand equation driven by market forces that caused the so called brain drain.. We are indebted to the Indian govt for not blocking iitians from going abroad as in year 2006 we would not be in a position to give back to the nation..

This petition would not have been created had IITians been self centred as acused. This team is working on a white paper on taking IITs to the next level to be submitted to GoI for consideration

Yours sincerely

Ram Krishnaswamy
Sydney, Australia
www.iitglobal.org
On behalf of concerned IIT Alumni and Citizens of India.

........................................................................................
Original Petition as follows:
http://www.petitiononline.com/SaveIITs/petition.html

Extracts of comments in the petition are blogged under
http://saveiits.blogspot.com/
...............................................................

Hon. Prime Minister Dr.Manmohan Singh & Hon. HRD Minister Mr.Arjun Singh,

It took a great visionary like Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru to create the five IITs, getting UNESCO, USA, Germany, UK & Russia to fund, furbish, staff them and nurture them for ten years. It took 125000 IITians 50 long years to establish the IITs as a Global Brand Name, aided by the autonomous structure & funds granted to the IITs by the Government of India.

This valuable Brand name belongs to the Indian Government, the IIT administrators and the real achievers, the alumni of IITs who have done the nation proud. Such excellence and recognition has to be achieved the hard way and is neither transferable nor can it be gained by association of the name.

We understand that, towards enhancing the quality of education in India there are now, moves afoot to name several existing colleges as IITs. While the governments overall goals are laudable, we would like to strongly urge honourable ministers to consider the potential damage to the IIT brand name, by such a move.

Instead, we urge the government to name these colleges as Hindustan Institutes of Technology (HITs) or a more suitable name, give them better funding than IITs and further empower them to succeed under their own brand name by making them all operationally autonomous along the lines of the IITs. Let the Government t create healthy competition between IITs and HITs and even go a step further and make faculty transferable between IITs and HITs so every one benefits through this exchange.

Taking the concept further HITs can benefit even more from official joint ventures with foreign universities of repute in countries like USA, UK, Australia, Canada and Singapore. This will encourage annual exchange of faculty and UG and PG students, besides raising research to international standards. What better way to accelerate this new Brand name and give IITs good healthy competition ?

The GOI should fund not just seven but many more engineering colleges in India, at least one in each state for a start, to raise their standards and to significantly increase the well-trained manpower pool of the nation, which is of national strategic interest especially in the IT/ITES and other emerging economic sectors.

However, we request you to please refrain from calling these colleges IITs or Deemed IITs since a brand name typically only gets diluted when it gets distributed around. After all, there is only one Oxford, one MIT, one Harvard, one Cambridge and one Sydney University in the world.

We strongly feel that the proposal to rename the seven existing colleges Deemed IITs will result in fourteen doomed IITs, a few years down the road. Please do not downgrade the nation's Temples of Technology & Islands of Excellence, the IITs, that visionaries in your party played a key role in building soon after independence.

The Brand Name that IITs hold today are a result of their intellectual capital, quality infrastructure, selective intake of students through JEE, and most of all, operational autonomy. Above all, the five primary IITs have managed to evolve a unique academic culture over the last fifty years and that culture will be hard to replicate at any other institution. The culture includes components such as faculty who were all recruited for an IIT right from the beginning, inputs from foreign sponsors into the formation and development of each IIT, high quality students from the day of formation etc. which will be difficult to replicate at any other institution that has already been in existence for several years and has developed its own culture.

The Nation will salute the President of India Dr Abdul Kalam, Prime Minister Dr.Manmohan Singh and HRD Minister Mr.Arjun Singh for making the right decision that will serve our children of future generations.

Petition created and submitted on behalf of the following Humble servants of the Nation::

Ram Krishnaswamy, B.Tech, IITM-1970
Dr.V.N.Sharma, M.Tech, IITK-1978
Sriram Vajpayam, B.Tech, IITM-1985
Bhuvan Prasad, B.Tech, IITK-1982
K.K.Subramanian, B.Tech, IITKgp-1970
Ashish Agarwal, B.Tech, IITM-1997
Atif Hussain, B.Tech, IITK-2003
Barun Kumar, B.Tech, IITK-1992
Ramakrishnan Rajamani, B Tech, IITM 1965
Raj Varadarajan, B.Tech IITM-1966
Sanat Agrawal, BTech, IITK-1988
Ajay Kumar Singh, B.Tech, IIT-R-2003
Varun Arya, M.Sc, IITD-1976
Gaurav Vaish B Tech IITK 2000

Yours sincerely
Ram Krishnaswamy
Sydney Australia
www.iitglobal.org

Stop surfing, make friends, IIT ians told

2007-03-12T19:55:00.000-07:00

Stop surfing, make friends, IITians told

I have seen a few emails supporting this restriction of Internet on IITB Campus and in hostels. I am not sure how effective this will be considering one can buy a Reliance wireless portable phone giving instant internet connection anywhere as long as there was a power point available.

That aside, it saddens me to see that even in year 2007, IIT Faculty and administration lay so much emphasis on performance in exams and also act like parents deciding what is best for the children.

Times have changed surfing gaming and blogging are there to stay and benefits are just as good. No one can honestly tell me that they did not read Play Boy and Pent House Magazines or play Bridge or three cards all night long in the 60s and 70s or even cut classes sit in the common rooms listening to radio or playing carroms and table tennis all day long

I would have thought that internet games would increase interaction with students and increase comraderie. Even at age 23, I have my son at home with his friends when they are not partying or socialising playing Shane Warne cricket or Racing Virtual cars as late as 3.00am At 9.00am he is at work as a lawyer

I for one believe that if young men and women in India are allowed total freedom they learn quick smart to manage their time and have fun while staying focussed on studies careers and future in general. All mugging for grades and no play makes all IIT Jacks dull boys for sure.

It is common knowledge that the more restrictions there are the greater the tendency to break the rules or circumvent them.

Faculty should learn from the west that their role is just to teach and nothing more and have to stop playing Gods or be God Parents. My son and all his friends have all completed ther law and business degrees with flying colours and have enjoyd life too in the process. The ones who missed out are Indian students with very strict parents who placed all sorts of restrictions. The end result was dropping out of University having Girl friends on the sly they never told the parents about and eventually leaving home on bad terms or being disowned on being found out.

I did socialise one ton on IITM campus but then there is nothing you can do about any student who wants to be a recluses and anti social and not want to play sport or participate in social activities.

Imagine the system helping you become more sociable and focus on studies by imposing restrictions. Instead of placing restrictions IITs should pursue and promote activities that attract students like honey and the bees. But that would be too much to ask of IIT faculty.

I am of the personal opinion that Indians in general smother their children too long and prevent them for maturing into adulthood quick smart and make important decision on their own This is a culture where youngsters have to say Yes Dad at home, yes Sir to faculty while studying and Yes Sir to employers

And the we wonder why majority of IITians lack leader ship skills.
The culture and system never allowed them the opportunity to develop as leaders capable of major decision as most decision were made for them .

I paid the price being forced to do Civil Engg that I hated and was lucky to get away and survive and succeed.

This is just my personal opinion If you disagree or agree I am happy to hear your thoughts
Let us debate the Pros and cons

Rambo
............................................

http://www.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=82817

Stop surfing, make friends, IITians told

Posted online: Monday, March 12, 2007 at 1349 hours IST
Updated: Monday, March 12, 2007 at 1528 hours IST

Mumbai, March 12: One of India's top engineering schools has restricted Internet access in hostels, saying addiction to surfing, gaming and blogging was affecting students' performance, making them reclusive and even suicidal.

Authorities at the elite Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in Mumbai said students had stopped socialising and many were late for morning classes or slept through them.

"Now, a student doesn't even know who lives two doors away from him because he is so busy on the Internet," said Prakash Gopalan, dean of student affairs.

"The old hostel culture of camaraderie and socialising among students is gone. This is not healthy in our opinion."

IIT-Mumbai, with about 5,000 students, is one of seven IITs across India, which are considered to be among the finest engineering schools in the world. They are also a talent pool for global technology giants.

But their exacting curriculum, tough competition and reclusive campus lifestyle have taken a toll on students.

Depression and dysfunctional lifestyles are known to be common among IIT students, and at least nine have committed suicide in the past five years. IIT-Mumbai has seen two suicides in two years and several attempts.

Students have unlimited free Internet access in their hostel rooms to help them in their studies, but many also use it to surf, chat, download movies and music, blog and for gaming.

Starting Monday, Internet access will be barred between 11 pm and 12.30 pm at IIT-Mumbai's 13 hostels to encourage students to sleep early and to try and force them out of their "shells", Gopalan said.

"There has been a decline in academic performance and also participation in sporting, cultural and social activities has gone down," he said.

But the move has not gone down well with students who say they hate their lives being regulated.

"Now they will say we need to listen to a lullaby to go to sleep," said Rajiv, an electronics student who gave only one name.

Student anger has also spilled on to several blogs run by IIT alumni where bloggers say, "the birth of the virtual world had led to the death of the real selves," but add that they resent regulation of students' activities.

Gopalan said authorities at the other IITs were considering a similar curb in their hostels.

Indo-US Nuclear Deal: Energy Security vs Nuclear Deterrance

2007-03-04T00:15:00.000-08:00

Rambo,
I have written an article on Indo US Nuclear deal, which is yet unpublished. I am sending it. If you wish you may circulate it. It won concurrence from Prof. M Anandakrishnan, Chairman IIT and MIDS.
Ranga.
IITM 1969 Batch
.................................................
Indo-US Nuclear Deal: Energy Security vs Nuclear Deterrance
by
V. Ranganathan
RBI Chair Professor
Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore

India’s current engagement with the US in dismantling the Nuclear apartheid is hailed by the Indian government and the foreign policy establishment as a sign of India’s growing economic strength as well as recognition by the incumbent Nuclear Club, of the fact that India too has arrived. There are others—particularly the left—who see this as a needless kowtowing to the uni-polar super power US, sacrificing national sovereignty and the lofty Nehruvian ideals of Non-alignment. The truth however seems to lie elsewhere.

It is to be noted that in the Indo US Nuclear agreement-in-the-making, the US Congress, through the Hyde Act, has made important exceptions to its general policy to enable India secure both technology and nuclear fuel. These include applying a waiver to the realities that India has conducted nuclear tests through the peaceful nuclear explosion route, that it is still having a weapons program called the strategic programme, and the fact that India will not sign the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) and is also not a signatory to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT). The US and UK themselves have signed but not ratified CTBT. It has also agreed to India’s condition that only its civilian programme would be open to Full Scope Safeguards, i.e. inspection by International Atomic Energy Agency, but not its strategic (i.e. weapons) programme. The benefit to India is expected to be the access to Nuclear technology as well as Nuclear Fuel by lifting the ban on the sale of nuclear fuel to India by the Nuclear Supply Group.
On both sides there is rhetoric and a different reality. On the US side, the rhetoric is that India’s energy consumption is bound to increase, and the Nuclear Agreement will divert India to source a significant chunk of its energy needs from this, putting less pressure on oil price which is of interest to the American consumers. This is a bit naïve, for India does not use much oil for its electricity generation—except in captive power plants—and there is no great substitutability of electricity with oil in end use, save in railway traction. The reality is that India’s advancement in the strategic sector to match China’s nuclear arsenal and acting as a countervail to China, would indeed suit the US in maintaining a control on China and curtailing its growing influence in the Asian region. After all, just as recently as January of this year, China reportedly tested Anti-Satellite weapon, and the US also has been carrying out Ballistic Missile Defence system in East Asia ostensibly to constrain North Korea and possibly even China.

On the economic front, it revives the nuclear power equipment manufacturing industry in the US, which has been languishing for the last 20 odd years with no orders ever since there has been a ban on expansion of nuclear electricity in the US. With lower value added jobs migrating to India through the outsourcing route, and the US labour productivity growth reaching an all time low of 1.6% last year, revival of the nuclear and weapons industry is just the high value added replacement that it would be looking for.
Now what is in the deal for India? Contrary to the popular perception and rhetoric that it would be a boost to the civilian nuclear program, i.e. electricity generation, the economics is against it. A study done by this author for the Department of Atomic Energy about 34 years ago found that nuclear electricity is about twice as costly as coal based thermal electricity. That conclusion even now stands, by and large, except when you switch to much higher capacity plants like 1600 MW, from the present 220 MW units, bringing with it economies of scale. Even then the global nuclear equipment industry is quite a bit oligopolistic and India is unlikely to get the plants at competitive prices. On the technology side, what India needs really is the Fast Breeder technology using the Thorium fuel cycle, for which the raw material Thorium is abundantly available in the sands of Kerala, in South India, but no one in the World has this technology at a commercial scale, nor is it in their interest to develop it, because the other countries are not rich in Thorium. So, India alone is placed in the best position to develop the FBR technology, but alas, it has not developed it so far, in spite of our attempt for the last more than 30 years. India has a successful Fast Breeder Test Reactor but has not succeeded in making commercial reactors. The guess is, the material science technology required using sodium coolant and ensuring the stability of metals at very high temperatures is not yet in place.
So it is clear that what India needs is Uranium fuel and not the technology or the equipment, so much. Besides, it needs the fuel more for its strategic program than for the civilian program, for it has some 300 billion tones of coal and plenty of hydro on its own soil and abundant gas in the neighboring countries of Nepal, Bangladesh, Myanmar and CIS countries. Fuel for the civilian purposes will only help India retain an option on nuclear electricity, without necessarily using it, unless the other sources like coal become uneconomical through greenhouse gas limiting regimes. So the key question is how the 1-2-3 Agreement which will give the flesh and blood to the Hyde Act, will enable India secure the fuel for its strategic purposes. Since every gram of fuel for civilian purposes will be monitored and accounted for by intrusive inspections, it will have no use in the strategic program, unless the fuel reprocessing is put beyond the purview of inspection, which is the case for the strategic programme.
Besides, with the onset of globalization India has been particularly hard put to attract the best and the brightest of talents in the areas science in general, and in Atomic Energy and Space Research, in particular. The best engineering graduates have been sucked into either pursuit of higher technical education abroad or management education in India leading to careers in investment banking and management consulting with the multinationals. There has been virtually no innovation in these once prestigious institutions like Bhabha Atomic Research Centre or Indian Space research Organization, notwithstanding the hype of ISRO in launching satellites. With the depleted skill set it is highly doubtful that India will be able to successfully pursue its strategic defense programs in atomic energy and space, unless the prices (for scientific talent) are set right.
Thus the attractiveness of the Indo-US nuclear deal should not be seen in the narrow perspective of the gains the deal per se brings to both countries, but rather as a step in the long march of the world’s most powerful democracy in step with world’s largest democracy, establishing shared values and aspirations.

The IITian Way of Giving

2006-05-10T04:15:00.000-07:00

The IITian Way of Giving

December 20, 2005

As IIT Bombay's Class of 1980 begins to board planes, trains and automobiles at points across the globe to get together for its Silver Jubilee reunion, it is difficult to believe that twenty-five years have flown by. The sobering thought dawns on many that the post-intermission period of the movie of life has begun, and minds turn to the matter of leaving a legacy behind and repaying debts of gratitude. Is it really possible to give back enough to truly repay the debt you owe to the alma mater that gave you everything in life? And what does it really mean to 'give back'?

The tradition of Gurudakshina in Indian culture goes back to the age of the sages. Not many may know that Gurgaon, the Millennium City, derives its name from Guru Dronacharya from the Mahabharat, and it is said the village was given to him as gurudakshina by the Pandavas. Of course, it was the same Guru Dronacharya who asked Eklavya for his right thumb, which IITians may not quite want to emulate.

The example of Kautsa who insisted on giving gurudakshina to Rishi Varatantu may be more apt. When Kautsa insisted on repaying his guru, the Rishi finally asked for fourteen crore gold coins, one crore for each of the fourteen sciences. It took Indra to summon Kuber, the god of wealth, to shower gold coins on Ayodhya, leading to the tradition of sharing 'apta' leaves as gold on Dussera.

Crores of gold coins have indeed been flowing back as gurudakshina from IIT Bombay's alumni, who have been at the forefront of graduates of Indian universities in re-establishing the tradition of giving back to the gurus. Kanwal Rekhi started the ball rolling in the late 1990s by donating the funds that led to the establishment of the Kanwal Rekhi School of Information Technology (KReSIT).

The IIT Bombay Heritage Fund (http://www.iitbombay.org) played an instrumental role in setting up a global network of alumni and using the world wide web to ensure that alumni stayed connected with the alma mater. And as recently as last week, Victor Menezes donated $1.5 million as part of a pledge of $3 million for a Convention Centre at IIT Bombay. "IIT Bombay gave me a priceless education -- and this is a small way to say thank you", said Mr Menezes.

American universities have shown how important alumni relations are, and how alumni contributions can be a significant source of funding for educational institutions. Indian universities need to take a page out of this playbook and create a tradition of alumni involvement and support for the alma mater. Harvard and Wharton start courting their alumni the day after graduation, and build a relationship that lasts a lifetime. And even tenured professors accept alumni relationship building as an important part of their job responsibilities. However, fundraising and alumni relations were often looked upon as demeaning and somewhat inappropriate tasks by many a learned professor in India, though that outlook is changing rapidly as demonstrated by IIT Bombay and its administration.

There is more to giving back than just donating money and gold coins. Alumni can persuade their employers to contribute company resources to establish laboratories and research facilities on campus. One of the most important issues facing the IITs is recruitment of world-class faculty in the face of global competition for talent. The Faculty Academic Network (FAN) initiative started by IIT Bombay's alumni has played a critical role in establishing a worldwide network of academics and researchers. As an example, FAN has brought IIT alumni who are senior professors and leading researchers in cutting edge fields such as nanotechnology to the Powai campus of IIT Bombay. The value of such interaction with the leading academics and researchers cannot be measured in rupees and dollars, and it is crucial in raising the IITs to the next level.

Giving back has an element of social responsibility too. IIT Bombay is inseparable from Powai Lake. A large bay of the lake is enclosed by the lush green campus of IIT Bombay, from the Devi Temple to the remnants of the defunct boat club. When the Class of 1980 left IIT in 1980, Powai Lake was indeed a lake, as advertised. It was reasonably clean and it was a great place for fishing and seeing wild birds. IITians used to swap tales about crocodiles, whether mythical -- like the Loch Ness monster -- or real.

Fast forward to the new millennium, and Powai Lake is now little better than a septic tank, choked with water hyacinth and weeds, and the recipient of millions of gallons of untreated sewage and hundreds of thousands of cubic metres of silt. The water level is reduced to such an extent, that within a few weeks of the end of the monsoon season, much of the lakebed is exposed. And when the dry season begins, campus residents play cricket and kabaddi on the lakebed and go for walks on the lake, where once rowboats were seen.

India's race for rapid growth is leading to pollution and over-development, which threatens to poison the environment. Blockages in the Mithi River which starts at Powai Lake and runs along the Andheri-Kurla Road caused flooding in adjacent areas. What has been happening to the Mithi River and Powai Lake, which probably caused the Mumbai floods, has some parallels to the Love Canal tragedy in the US.

Love Canal was a canal that was turned into a municipal and industrial chemical dumpsite, and local authorities later allowed homes and schools to be built on top of the site. Eventually, a record amount of rainfall created a disaster when the ground began to leach noxious substances in backyards, basements, and on school grounds. And then there were the birth defects and miscarriages. Love Canal has been described as one of the most appalling environmental tragedies in American history. The subsequent public uproar led to a complete turnaround in public support for protecting the environment.

The recent Mumbai floods, and what is happening to Mithi River and Powai Lake, should likewise be rallying cries for Indian public opinion to focus on the environment. Quarrying, blasting, vehicular pollution and excessive construction are destroying the lake that was created in 1891 to augment Mumbai's drinking water supply and recharge its ground water resources. The lake is dying, and with it, a landmark of Mumbai and IIT Bombay is dying too.

"Can we let this happen? Should we let this happen?" asked the Class of 1980.

The 80-ites have chosen the 'Rejuvenation of Powai Lake' as their Legacy Project, as a way for the entire class to give back to society at large, and to leave a permanent legacy for their alma mater. It is a huge task and the Class of 1980 is not going to be able to do it all alone. And it's not going to be completed in a few months or years either. It will require the Class of 1980 to work together with the central, state and local governments, NGOs, IIT, industry and citizens to make it happen.

The Legacy Project is a continuation of the work already under way, thanks to the pioneering work of concerned citizens and campus residents. In July 2000, a group of IIT Bombay residents and students came together to take up the cause of the lake and established the Save Powai Lake Team. The team worked with local MPs and MLAs to move a petition in Parliament to release funds for the revival of Powai Lake. The lake has also been included by the Union ministry of environment and forests in the National Lake Conservation Plan. The Save Powai Lake team has also worked with Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation officials to press for measures to prevent further pollution.

The fundraising drive for the Legacy Project is well under way and the cheques and share transfers have begun to roll in. One month's salary or one per cent of net worth are the guidelines that the class has established to encourage the act of giving. The Class of 1980 will symbolically hand over a cheque for almost Rs 1 crore (Rs 10 million) to IIT Bombay at the time of the Class Reunion.

The Powai Lake Legacy Project is an example of how the spirit of gurudakshina, a sense of social responsibility, and gold coins from alumni can catalyze a larger effort to save a lake and to build public support for environmental protection.

As the Class of 80 makes its way to Mumbai for the Silver Jubilee Reunion, many may wonder if they have done enough to make Mera Bharat Mahan. The business leaders and professors in our midst can argue that they have indeed helped make India truly world-class in fields ranging from IT to specialty chemicals to quantum physics. Those who have made their home in far away locales from Singapore to San Francisco are often questioned about not doing enough to pay back for what they got from India.

KReSIT and other initiatives funded and supported by alumni are evidence that IIT Bombay's tradition of giving back is second to none. And the Class of 1980 would also argue that Brand India stands tall on the strength of Brand IIT, and what helped build both were the IITians who showed India, the US, and the whole world what Indians are capable of.

IITs: Invaluable institutions by Prof Inderesan Ex IITM Director

2006-01-15T16:51:00.000-08:00

This is an article written by Prof Inderesan Ex Director IITM. Though written in 2003 it is worth a read now in Jan 2006 with the imminent conversion of seven existing campuses to deemed IITs.
Thanks to Dominic for bringing this article to life one more time.
Rambo
.............................................................

http://www.blonnet.com/bline/2003/02/07/stories/2003020700070800.htm

IITs: Invaluable institutions

P. V. Indiresan

Great institutions are not planned, they just happen. So with the IITs. Even the most trenchant critic of IITs would concede that academically, they are the best. Have they served the country well? On balance, yes. It is because of the IITs that India has made the mark it has in a number of areas, especially software. On their golden jubilee year, P. V. Indiresan chronicles the setting up of the IITs and explains why they are great.

IT has often been said that the camel is an elephant designed by a committee. That is an unfair criticism of committees: The camel may not be as glamorous as an elephant, but it is definitely the more useful, and the more successful animal. Though I cannot swear by it, my hunch is that when the idea of an Indian Institute of Technology was first mooted, what Dr B. C. Roy, the then Chief Minister of West Bengal, wanted was probably an elephant, the whiter the better. Instead, he got the likes of a camel that has demonstrated that it can survive and flourish even in the intellectual desert that India is.

The concept of the IITs originated not fifty years ago but a good seven years earlier, at a time when India was yet to gain Independence. The Second World War was over; Independence was in the offing. At that crucial juncture, we were lucky to have on the Viceroy's Executive Council a visionary in Sir Ardeshir Dalal. With rare foresight, Sir Ardeshir foresaw that the future prosperity of India would depend not so much on capital as on technology. He, therefore, proposed the setting up of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research. To man those laboratories, he persuaded the US government to offer hundreds of doctoral fellowships under the Technology Cooperation Mission (TCM) programme. He knew that such assistance would not help us forever and we should learn to train our own technologists. That is how the Indian Institute of Technology was conceptualised. He did not live to see his vision fulfilled. He died young and was on the Viceroy's Executive Council for barely two years.

Maulana Abul Kalam Azad was Independent India's first Minister of Education but Dr Humayun Kabir was the real Tsar of education. Dr Kabir sold Sir Ardeshir's proposal for an IIT to Dr B. C. Roy, the Chief Minister of his state. It is also possible that Sir J. C. Ghosh, the then Director of the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, prompted him to do so. As was usual in government, Dr Kabir appointed a committee to prepare a proposal, and made Sir N. Sarkar the chairman. It was a virtually all-Bengali clique but a respectable one. Like all committees, the Sarkar Committee too was taking its own time, but Dr Roy was in a hurry. He did not wait for the Committee to finalise its report. On the ground Bengal had the highest concentration of engineering industries, the Committee suggested in Its first draft that an IIT may be set up in that state. That much was enough for Dr. Roy. He used that fragment of a report to persuade Nehru to push through a special Act to establish an IIT in Bengal. He offered as a sweetener, the Hijli Jail in Kharagpur as a readymade location for the Institute. Thus, was born the IIT at Kharagpur.

The Sarkar Committee never completed its task, never submitted the final report. Thus, the IIT at Kharagpur was born premature. Yet, it was lucky; it had some remarkable midwives to assist its birth. L. S. Chandrakant and Biman Sen in the Education Ministry should be given credit for making the IIT Act as progressive as it is. Unlike the usual run of bureaucrats, they did not want to hold on to power. They produced a blueprint for a truly autonomous educational institution, the likes of which have not been seen since then in our country.

Credit should go also to Sir J. C. Ghosh, the first Director of IIT Kharagpur. He used his high stature to put to good use the liberal provisions of the IIT Act. He made the IIT truly free from nitpicking interference from the babudom. Thanks to him, to this day, IIT directors exercise authority to an extent unheard of almost anywhere else in the government. They are virtually free to select faculty, apportion the budget, and make purchases as they judge best. Except for a couple of aberrant occasions, they have been left free to manage academic programmes without political or bureaucratic interference. However, there has been some political interference in admitting students. Even then, to a large extent, the IITs have been allowed to admit students strictly on merit, and in the manner decided by the IITs themselves.

There must have been some resistance within the Sarcar Committee about the recommendation to locate the IIT in Bengal. To counter such criticism, the Draft Report suggested that, later on, a second IIT may be located in the Western Region to serve the process industries concentrated there. The Draft Report contains a few pages of sensible proposals and a hundred pages of how a hydraulic laboratory should be set up! Apparently, at the instance of this erudite expert, it added that a third IIT should be considered for the North to promote the vast irrigation potential of the Gangetic basin. As an afterthought, not willing to leave South out, the Draft Report hinted that a fourth one might be considered for the South too. However, it offered no specific economic justification for the same.

In due course, pressure built up for starting a second IIT in the West. In response, Nehru had the interesting idea of seeking Soviet assistance. Krishna Menon, who was closest to the Russians, was then Defence Minister. He got Brig Bose appointed the first Director of IIT Bombay, superseding the local expert Dr Kelkar. Dr Kelkar was naturally miffed. Fortunately, as a fallout of the prevailing Cold War, the Americans offered to help to set up yet another IIT. The way the Sarcar Committee had suggested, it was located in the North, in Kanpur, with Dr Kelkar as its first Director.

Naturally, the South could not be left out. At that time, the Germans had run up large trade surpluses, and they were persuaded to support an IIT in the South. The Germans had all but decided on Bangalore as the location, and purely, as a matter of form, visited Madras. There, they were in for a surprise. C. Subramaniam, the Education Minister, took them round the Governor's estate with frolicking deer roaming among hundreds of venerable banyan trees, and offered the space across the table. The visiting German team was bowled over. Bangalore was forgotten; Madras got the fourth IIT.

That was not all. Chandigarh was coming up as a fully planned city with R. N. Dogra as its Chief Engineer. Upright and honest, Dogra fell foul of Chief Minister Pratap Singh Kairon. Hence, Dogra grabbed at the chance of shifting to the new College of Engineering that was coming up in Delhi. He soon realised that a college was an inferior breed; the IITs were a class above. He persuaded Prof M. S. Thacker, then Member of the Planning Commission to set up an IIT at Delhi on the ground that the country was divided into five regions, and all but the Northhad an IIT each. (UP and Madhya Pradesh constituted the Central Region. Hence, officially, Kanpur was located in the Central Region, not the North.)

Two other IITs have emerged recently. Both are curious cases. Students of Assam spearheaded a major agitation forcing Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi to yield. One of their demands was an IIT in Assam. Rajiv Gandhi agreed to it on the spot considering it a minor request — not knowing that it would cost over Rs 1,500 crore.

Recently, when Dr Murali Manohar Joshi became Education Minister, and his native area became the new state of Uttaranchal, he conceded a plea from the much neglected Roorkee University, and converted it into an IIT, making it the latest and the seventh IIT.

What lessons do we draw from this history? One, great institutions are not planned; they just happen. Two, they often happen because of royal patronage. Three, more often than not, they emerge because somebody or other was scorned. Hell may have no fury like a woman scorned, but the earth has no persuasive force like an academic scorned. Four, great institutions do not evolve in the manner described by Darwin; they are mutations. The IIT Act was not an evolution of the Indian Universities Act. It is unique.

Admittedly, the best of IIT alumni have migrated. If they have not migrated from India, they have migrated from technology to management. In the Indian environment, migration is more glamorous than staying at home; management careers are far more lucrative than the pursuit of technology. IIT students have merely moved over where the rewards are highest. Even now, IIT graduates are much sought after abroad with preferential offers but not so in India. In our country, democracy is equated to discounting merit.

Even the worst critics of IITs would concede that academically, the IITs are great. Have they served the country well? On balance, yes! Most teachers in engineering colleges have been trained in IITs, admittedly at the master's level, yet by the IITs.

Through such teachers and otherwise, the IITs have set standards for all other engineering institutions to follow, have made engineering education across the length and breadth of India as good as it is. It is because of IITs that India has made the mark it has in software and in a number of other technologies.

Sixteen State governments have sought Central help to set up new IITs. That is proof enough that IITs are valuable. They are invaluable.

(The author is former Director, IIT Madras.)

Why fix JEE if it’s not broken?

2006-01-12T06:13:00.000-08:00

Why fix JEE if it’s not broken?
Ram Krishnaswamy

http://www.deccanherald.com/deccanherald/oct272005/dheducation11163920051026.asp

The changes suggested to reform the JEE may create more problems than they set out to solve.

JEE has stood the test of time for 50 years yet there were some problems “associated with JEE”. A committee was formed on the initiative of Prof Ananth Director of IIT Madras but the final outcome is quite different from what was expected.

JEE has become a national obsession with coaching schools mushrooming all over India and meeting the demand and charging exhorbitant fees and some even have pre selections. These coaching schools which are legitimate in preparing students for JEE, are out of reach for the not so rich but clever students especially from rural India. Hence the IIT Global Free JEE coaching initiative

Senior IIT professors have been complaining that the current crop of students were less creative and more Spartan like drilled into solving numerical problems that help them breeze through a JEE exam. Most often it is the high speed in answering the JEE questions that gave students from coaching schools the edge.

There was a definite need to introduce some form of psychometric evaluation in JEE to separate clever and creative students from the book worms.

Getting rid of the screening test may be good, yet linking JEE with a minimum 60% at the Board exam is not very logical considering we have such a vast range of board exams in India and valuation processes are very strict in some States and very lax in others…so students from some States could have an unfair advantage over others in qualifying for the JEE. Board exams are not a level playing field nationally hence is a very bad recommendation.

To even suggest that the committee looked into JEE induced stress makes one wonder. Why should administrators, government and faculty worry about stress? Afterall once into an IIT it is a pressure cooker anyway !!

The new JEE Stress Buster is a myth. There is increased stress now as 1.Students now have to study harder to score a minimum of 60% in the school Board exams to qualify besides studying for JEE; 2.Students have to study for one more subject for JEE; 3.Eventually coaching schools will have one more subject for coaching with increased revenue — meaning more financial stress for students and parents. So where is the relief in stress?

Does it not make sense to brain storm IIT alumni who have been through the JEE system for 50 years ?

Reforms can be meaningful when we think outside the box. Unfortunately the committees that looked at improving JEE were all inside the box plus may be, have yielded to political pressures as the final outcome bears no resemblance to original recommendations.

Do proposed reforms reduce stress in the highly competitive exam, or reduce the influence of coaching classes, or restore the sanctity of the school system?

How does it improve the quality of students getting into IITs ?

The answer is a BIG ‘NO’ to all questions plus they do not in any way improve the situation for the already disadvantaged poor students from cities and rural India and non English medium schools.

A maximum of two attempts and maximum age 21 years ……Can some one explain why?? What is wrong in some one deciding at age 25 to give JEE a shot? What is wrong in encouraging tenacity to succeed? A student who has tried three times to get into IIT is more likely to be a Bill Gates or a Narayanamurthy in real life.

The best way to dilute and downgrade the quality of a brand like IIT

2006-01-12T06:05:00.000-08:00

http://www.deccanherald.com/deccanherald/jan122006/dheducation1617412006111.asp.

Preserving the IIT brand
Ram Krishnaswamy, IITM 1970
Sydney Australia
www.iitglobal.org

The best way to dilute and downgrade the quality of any brand achieved over time is to just add other lower grade products to it..

The best way to dilute and downgrade the quality of any brand achieved over time is to just add other lower grade products to it..

As an analogy, take the Ambassador car manufactured in India, that has served millions since Independence and has been a work horse and an icon on its own merits.

Spend lavishly, give it a new look and put the BMW Badge on it?? Will it fool the market? What is in a name without Quality ?

It may not hurt the BMW brand but will definitely hurt Ambassador. Roorkee University that has thousands of alumni who have treasured the Roorkee University Brand status has suffered this fate and alumni are still struggling to come to grips with the IIT tag.

Yes there is nothing stopping the government from renaming a dozen more engineering colleges as IITs. The result will be that we would have created a two tier IIT system.. We do not have to look too far to find answers. Each Year we have 4,00,000 students in India who take the JEE exam. Guess which IITs they select in their application ? Top five of course.. Market forces cannot be fooled or manipulated. Rather than building many more quality engineering colleges from the ground up, which the government cannot truly afford, just changing the names of a few colleges that have been around longer than IITs, just to please political factions, without the rigorous process of recruitment and training, was a bad move even a few years ago. Why continue the process ?

A new public petition to Preserve the IIT Brand and build Complementary Brands to serve India has been created by a team of IIT Alumni who are concerned that there could be seven more IITs announced in a couple of months, by HRD Minister, based on media reports.

In less than 48 hours there have been 1000 endorsements of the petition from Indians all over the world. It is time for the public to say "No More IITs" in the interests of the esteemed institutions and the nation . The petition url is

http://www.petitiononline.com/SaveIITs/petition.html

If you believe that India should have more quality engineering colleges, please sign the attached petition. Please endorse whole heartedly and express your views freely.

* / A Blog has also been created for you to preview comments.. / * * /
http://saveiits.blogspot.com//*
* *

Lakshmi Mittal's article on visit to Jharkhand...Jamshedpur (TATA)

2006-01-11T16:43:00.000-08:00

Lakshmi Mittal's article on visit to Jharkhand...Jamshedpur (TATA)

A nice piece of article about TATAs, from one of the richest person in the world.

I visited Jamshedpur over the weekend to see for myself an India that is fast disappearing despite all the wolf-cries of people like Narayanamurthy and his ilk. It is one thing to talk and quite another to do and I am delighted to tell you that Ratan Tata has kept alive the legacy of perhaps Indias finest

Industrialist Ratan Tata: Something that some people doubted when Ratan took over the House of the Tatas but in hindsight, the best thing to have happened to the Tatas is unquestionably Ratan. I was amazed to see the extent of corporate philanthropy and this is no exaggeration.

For the breed that talks about corporate social responsibility and talks about the role of corporate India, a visit to Jamshedpur is a must. Go there and see the amount of money they pump into keeping the town going; see the smiling faces of workers in a region known for industrial unrest; see the standard of living in a city that is almost isolated from the mess in the rest of the country.

This is not meant to be a puff piece. I have nothing to do with Tata Steel, but I strongly believe the message of hope and the message of goodness that they are spreading is worth sharing. The fact that you do have companies in India which look at workers as human beings and who do not blow their software trumpet of having changed lives. In fact, I asked Mr Muthurman, the managing director, as to why he was so quiet about all they had done and all he could offer in return was a smile wrapped in humility, which said it all.

They have done so much more since I last visited Jamshedpur, which was in 1992. The town has obviously got busier but the values thankfully haven't changed. The food is still as amazing as it always was and I gorged, as I would normally do. I visited the plant and the last time I did that was with Russi Mody.

But the plant this time was gleaming and far from what it used to be. Greener and cleaner and a tribute to environment management. You could have been in the mountains. Such was the quality of air I inhaled! There was no belching smoke; no tired faces and so many more women workers, even on the shop floor. This is true gender equality and not the kind that is often espoused at seminars organised by angry activists. I met so many old friends. Most of them have aged but not grown old. There was a spring in the air which came from a certain calmness which has always been the hallmark of Jamshedpur and something I savoured for a full two days in between receiving messages of how boring and decrepit the Lacklustre Fashion Weak was.

It is at times such as this that our city lives seem so meaningless. Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata had created an edifice that is today a robust company and it is not about profits and about valuation. It is not about who becomes a millionaire and who doesnt'. It is about getting the job done with dignity and respect keeping the age-old values intact and this is what I learnt.

I jokingly asked someone as to whether they ever thought of joining an Infosys or a Wipro and pat came the reply: "We are not interested in becoming crorepatis but in making others crorepatis."

Which is exactly what the Tatas have done for years in and around Jamshedpur. Very few people know that Jamshedpur has been selected as a UN Global Compact City, edging out the other nominee from India, Bangalore. Selected because of the quality of life, because of the conditions of sanitation and roads and welfare. If this is not a tribute to industrial India, then what is? Today, Indian needs several Jamshedpurs but it also needs this Jamshedpur to be given its fair due, its recognition. I am tired of campus visits being publicised to the Infosys and the Wipros of the world. Modern India is being built in Jamshedpur as we speak. An India built on the strength of core convictions and nothing was more apparent about that than the experiment with truth and reality that Tata Steel is conducting at Pipla.

Forty-eight tribal girls (yes, tribal girls who these corrupt and evil politicians only talk about but do nothing for) are being educated through a residential program over nine months. I went to visit them and I spoke to them in a language that they have just learnt: Bengali. Eight weeks ago, they could only speak in Sainthali, their local dialect. But today, they are brimming with a confidence that will bring tears to your eyes. It did to mine.

One of them has just been selected to represent Jharkand in the state archery competition. They have their own womens football team and whats more they are now fond of education. It is a passion and not a burden. This was possible because I guess people like Ratan Tata and Muthurman havent sold their souls to some business management drivel, which tells us that we must only do business and nothing else. The fact that not one Tata executive has been touched by the Naxalites in that area talks about the social respect that the Tatas have earned.

The Tatas do not need this piece to be praised and lauded. My intent is to share the larger picture that we so often miss in the haze of the slime and sleaze that politics imparts. My submission to those who use phrases such as "feel-good" and "India Shining" is first visit Jamshedpur to understand what it all means. See Tata Steel in action to know what companies can do if they wish to. And what corporate India needs to do. Murli Manohar Joshi would be better off seeing what Tata Steel has done by creating the Xavier Institute of Tribal Education rather than by proffering excuses for the imbroglio in the IIMs. This is where the Advanis and Vajpayees need to pay homage. Not to all the Sai Babas and the Hugging saints that they are so busy with. India is changing inspite of them and they need to realise that.

I couldn't have spent a more humane and wonderful weekend. Jamshedpur is an eye-opener and a role model, which should be made mandatory for replication. I saw corporate India actually participate in basic nation-building, for when these tribal girls go back to their villages, they will return with knowledge that will truly be life-altering.

Corporate India can do it but most of the time is willing to shy away. For those corporate leaders who are happier winning awards and being interviewed on their choice of clothes, my advise is visit Tata Steel, spend some days at Jamshedpur and see a nation's transformation. That is true service and true nationalism.

Tata Steel will celebrate 100 years of existence in 2007. It won't be just a milestone in this company's history. It will be a milestone, to my mind of corporate transparency and generosity in this country. It is indeed fitting that Ratan Tata today heads a group which has people who are committed to nation-building than just building inflluence and power. JRD must be smiling wherever he is. And so must Jamsetji Nusserwanji. These people today, have literally climbed every last blue mountain. And continue to do so with vigour and passion. Thank god for the Tatas.

From IIT to MIT

2006-01-08T20:57:00.000-08:00

Many of the Indian students and faculty members who make a splash at MIT are IIT
ex-students. Yet, the IITs have a long way to go before they can actually be
considered at par with MIT.

“I think IITs have produced some outstanding scholars and practitioners. If we had one IIT rather than seven and admitted only the top 1% of the students, we too could build an aura of technological sophistication much like MIT. Having said that, let me add that there are other factors that make MIT a superb institution of higher learning. One, the steady flow of brilliant international students and faculty to MIT makes it a great university with very hard working researchers.

Second, once a faculty is hired by MIT, no one tries to control the research agenda and methodology of that faculty member. There is truly a sense of intellectual autonomy which is a prerequisite for path breaking research. Third, the level of funding available for research is quite high at MIT, and the teaching load is reasonable. One can also buy one’s time with research funding and not teach while conducting full time research,” says Sanyal.

Others feel that executive level salaries are also important to draw top faculty
members. “IITs have to attract top faculty and pay them well at executive salary
rates and set up labs and facilities that make it attractive to be there. Also,
there should be more emphasis on experimentation rather than on theory,” says Sarpeshkar who chose to go to MIT for his undergrad degrees in electrical engineering and physics though he was also accepted at IIT.

Even IIT ex-students like Sur feel that though the IITs are great undergrad engineering colleges, they still have a long way to go before they become centres of cutting edge research. “The IITs are undergrad powerhouses but they need to add value in terms of research,” he says.

An IITian unravels his world

2006-01-02T21:37:00.000-08:00

An IITian unravels his world

The following is an interesting article about one of my class-mates who dreams to take a different route after his IIT days - and the first step towards this has already been taken.
Regards,
Vaibhav.
BTME 2005.

http://www.newindpress.com/NewsItems.asp?ID=IE920051222234845&Page=9&Title=Chennai&Topic=0&

**
*An IITian unravels his world*
Friday December 23 2005 10:10 IST
CHENNAI: While his fellow IITians ran the rat race for the best grades and projects, and laboured over perilously tall stacks of engineering books, Rabi Kisku, armed with a copy of Film Directing: Shot by Shot and a video camera, set about his dream of making films. ''I didn't have any other way to learn, and I thought: If I can learn engineering through books, why can't I do this thing?''

And three years later, ''this thing'' has led to his becoming director, script-writer and co-producer of Silicon Jungle, a docu-drama on what life is like for IITians, behind the imposing walls within which their precious brains incubate. And it's really a strange life they lead, assures 24-year-old Kisku (who admits, bashfully, that many of his friends call him Kukunoor, after he drunkenly declared himself to be the famous director's successor one night).

''A completely different world! The academic pressure is very high and there's lots of competition! People don't get time to come out of that 12ft wall; they're isolated, lost in those four academic years. They live on a different frequency! You ask them anything about the outside world and they won't know!'' What's more, their bio-rhythm and, well, personal hygiene, do tend to take quite a beating! ''Many people study, get up, hardly bathe, sleep in class, come back, play games in the night, then study again. Sometimes we'd even play cricket from 11 to 4 in the morning!'' he says, himself incredulous, in retrospect.

So how do they ever pass? ''Inherently, they're very good at their subjects when they come here,'' he explains.

If you think this is just another listless popcorn-muncher of a campus flick, with routine cycles of melodrama and heartbreak, Kisku begs to differ. ''Uh! No! There are no usual film elements. In time and intensity, it's not like a commercial film, it's more realistic; a four-year journey of the dreams, desires and failures of four friends.''

As the members of Studio Vaibhava, who composed the soundtrack (''a fusion of blues, rock, and country with a little Indian thrown in'') point out, ''It has got a lot of emotional scenes, there's a lot of scope for music in first-time experiences, like first moments in the college, first date, first love, first time he meets the seniors, and they're, like, ragging him!''

Silicon Jungle, unlike a popcorn movie, addresses itself to quite a particular audience: ''Those who passed out, and the 2 lakh students who write the entrance exam every year. They have no picture of IIT, no idea what students go through. They believe in a lot of myths.''

And it's taken one dream, and a whole lot of money (much of it drawn from the stipends of his friends; the rest from corporate sponsors like Honeywell, Airtel, AMD) to bring the reality behind these myths to our screens this coming March.

Andaman Cellular Jail by Navneet

2005-12-29T21:24:00.000-08:00

Andaman Cellular Jail by Navneet
Posted January 6th 2003 (Message 298 )

...................
Hi Navneet,
What ever prompted you to post this message on the Cellular Jail in Andamans. I do not think anyone in this group can be closer to this monument and this Island than Rambo himself.

I am sure when I wrote an article on accepting generation gap, I had touched briefly on Andamans Islands during Jap occupation.

I was born in Port Blair, Andamans Islandsand I was if fact born in the cellular jail building itself as soon after the war a couple out of the seven jail wings were converted to form a temp hospital. This was in 1946/47.

My dad infact was the Jailer as well as the Hospital administrator and he woprked for the Central Govt of India. He retired in 1957 as the Assistant Comissioner of Nicobar Islands.

Is there anyone in this group who has links with Andaman Islands ?? I would love to get in touch with them.

One of my unfulfilled dreams is to go back to Andamans to relive the memories. I lefty the place in 1955 to join St.Bedes High School at Madras. Recently we ran into a couple who had lived in Andamans and believe it or not lived in the same house we did and do remember that the name Sharmila which my older sister wrote on wet concrete surface in the back yard is still there.

Kind of spooky yeeeeow.

In July 1999, I visited the Alcatraz in SF Bay. Man it is nothing compared to the Andaman Jail. I must remember to pass this link to my Bengali friends who inevitably (After about four scotches and one ton of Luchis and kebabs, start discussions as to who the real father of the nationm is GANDHI OR NETAJI SUBAS CHANDRA BOSE. Dominic & Syngal dada, would like to hear from you two about this as topic as you were born before the Independence of India.

Ramboaus
''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
dear all,

a memorable website on the Andaman Freedom Fighters. http://www.andamancellularjail.org/Default.htm
visit it if you get the time.
especially see the "Contact Us" list.
http://www.andamancellularjail.org/ContactUs.htm
i am sure some of the freedom fighters who are still alive would love a letter from us. or even an email. you can send email to vnmathur@andamancellularjail.org.

there is also a list of some of the revolutionaires with photographs.

cheers,
navneet
B.Tech CS
IIT-B 1994

Dear Rambo and Navneet,
Yes, I always had a strong desire during my childhood to visit
this pilgrimage centre, the Kala Pani Jail. My dream got realised
when I joined Indian Navy on completion of my B.Tech in ECE from
KGP in '79. And I had the opportunity to visit Port Blair 4 times
and the last visit was in oct 2001. Everytime I made it a point to
pay my homage to thousands of martyrs. And the cell where Veer
Savarkar was kept and the light and sound show really inspires you
and tears roll down your eyes and you get angry to learn of the
atrocities by the British jailers.
We may or may not call Netaji as the father of the Nation. But he
was a tall figure those days and anyway ahead of Nehruji.
Sorry no debate on this pls.
jaitly
79/ece/kgp

VKJ,
Pleasantly surprised by a "Navy mate" in the net!
So I did visit "Andamans" on Ranjit as Commander "L"Aug 87 during Sri Lanka Ops.
Cellular jail is a must ,bears testimony alike all other jails of that era where all our freedom
fighters were incarcerated and killed to finally gift us "Mera Bharat Mahan"!
Now even the quality of inmates have fallen beyond repair!
Tushar dutt,
IITM , elec, 70
..................
Hello Everyone,

Independent India does not teach enough about the violent part of the Independence movement in her schools. May be the reason is to exalt the non-violent one more. I am glad to learn more now, and sorry to say that I did not know enough earlier.

Since the wishes of those who were jailed there, and who were able to collectively state their wishes to the Indian Government, and the public, have not yet been fulfilled (as far as the library, and research in entirety to bring out all the facts go), what can we do to see them fulfilled? Can we ask international stalwarts like Nelson Mandela (who was also in South Africa's Andaman for many more years
than the Indians in Andaman but who probably faced less (?) ), and others to speak quietly to the Government of India?

Considering what our neighbour has been indulging in for many years against India, and saying about it, wouldn't they use this (which is our common history) as justification for their already calling their mercenaries freedom-fighters or say that what they are doing now is the same as what those jailed there did?

My wife, and her family did live in Port Blair for 1 or 2 years in early 70's when she was in the 1st or 2nd grade since her father, who was in the Military Engineering Services, was posted there. I do not know if atleast all the children who are in school there are taken to the jail area, and taught that part of our history. Is there a jail on any of those islands now?

Vaidyaraman
1979 IITM B.Tech. EE (LC)

Getting down to the ground by Dr,V,N,Sharma IITK

2005-12-29T21:18:00.000-08:00

Getting down to the ground by Dr,V,N,Sharma IITK
3rd January 2003 ( message No 281)

I think we are discussing the details of newspaper reports too much on what is ailing India or its development process. It does not take us anywhere. My suggestion is that discussion, in a very precise manner and with patience, should now converge to what is to be done to remove those ills. I am giving something from the past and a proposal. Pl. go through with patience before responding.

I started socio- political activities wayback in 1965-66 at IITK with a large group and continued there upto 1979 after which I took over a change of job from IITK to SAIL / RDCIS at Ranchi, Jharkhand from where I took voluntary retirement in July this year. I find very few iitians of those days in the variety of communication
list foriitians. Perhaps they have no interest in getting a job and have lost all hopes in seeing a positive change in this country. In the beginning I also felt like many others do today that they can change India with some more efforts and some communication. But with passage of time and day by day I found it more and more difficult.

Most of my friends and colleagues dropped out from such socio political activities almost then at IITK itself. Yet I have continued with these activities as I perhaps have become more thick skinned.

The experience of last 23 years in Bihar/ Jharkhand was a bit different because this is a more complex situation with existence of tribals, at the same time existence of huge mineral and natural wealth, uncontrolled exploitation of human, large christian and muslim populationetc. Experiences at IITK and Jharkhand has made me conclude that an intellectuals perception or understanding of the problem of the people is mostly wrong esp. if the person is fully busy in some other pursuits. It requires declassing of a person first and developing himself in the process of development. Many may feel offended but there is no short cut to this. The internet/e-mail group discussions may give us some satisfaction of doing something but it has no meaning for the masses. I do not think most of the IITians in general are capable of doing this sort of thing.

Such detailed work on the ground cannot be their cup of tea. But some of them certainly have done wonders and can do that now. I am saying this with my personal experience of IITK of 1967-77 period if some of you are still there. A group of faculty, students and staff were attempting to conduct experiment on some positive changes. They were all branded "Naxalites" and the leaders sent to jail. I am proud that most of them -the students and majority faculty stood by the cause.

Development in my opinion should be first the development of mind rather than straight mechanical or electronic creation of wealth. At the cost of being misunderstood I feel that it also requires development of IITians and Indianthinkers including me before we start taliking on these lines. In view of this my suggestion is that

1. In stead of starting on India's development in top gear get into the socio-economic and cultural history of the land, their need, the level of technology needed and analysis of the various inputs required.

2. Define the perception of development and the target group.

3. Formulate a programme on the basis of that.

4. Form a group to work for it (adopt or develop a village/ settlement or develop water bodies in a region or start a good teaching /research institution for engg. agr.or medical education - kind of an IIT or MIT of your imagination- depending on the resources available).

5. Take sabbatical, start working on the ground on full time or replacement basis

6. Experience the difficulties youself - not through the newspaper reports and find solutions.

Alternative is that you serve India all alone like (Late) Anil Agrawal of Centre for Sc. & Env. New Delhi. I request you all to critically examine and respond to the
suggestions.

I have taken voluntary retirement in July 2002 from my regular job with SAIL and I am available to take part in the programme if I am convinced of the seriousness of getting down to the ground level.

Dr.V.N.Sharma,
M.Tech (Met.Engg.,IITK); Ph.D.(Env.Sc.& Engg., ISMD)
Environment & Water Management Consultant,
A-100, SAIL Satellite Township,
Ranchi-834004, Jharkhand, India.
Phone: 91-651-2441524.

The Silent Achiever-Ram Krishnan-IITM 1966.

2005-12-29T21:11:00.000-08:00

The Silent Achiever-Ram Krishnan-IITM 1966.
Posted By Ramboaus on 3rd January 2003 (Message No 280 )

The New Year 2003 has dawned on us. Let us pray that it brings Peace to the World (keeps President Bush from killing innocent Iraqi men women and Children) and brings Prosperity to Mother India.

With the new year I got this Good news today that I would like to share with all IIT-Global members. It was about mid-day and I saw my good friend Ram Krishnan IITM 1966 who lives in Minnesota come on line. I just said Hi and we started to Chat He then shared this secret with me.

For members from other IIT's, Ram Krishnan is the President of IITMAANA and the man behind Akash Ganga and RWH Project in Madras. He is well and truly a silent achiever with a real passion for what ever he does. He was one of the first to endorse the IIT-Global idea and I thank him for his support guidance and even scolding when I stirred up the members.......(well it did wake some sleepy heads to atleast come and tell me off and go back into hybernation.)

Have a read of this article and I am sure it will make you feel proud. It is about one man's effort to bring about changes to the lives of the people in a village that he adopted. He sacrificed his own career as an Engineer and has devoted his life for the betterment of his adopted village.

Now I know that not all of us have the passion to do anything like this. Some of you are very young and have to follow your Career dreams as well as find life partners and bring up children etc etc. But there are those of us in the group who have almost reached the retiring age Children have grown up and have grown their own wings and moved away from home. I am appealing to members in this age group to use this model and adopt some village that appeals to you, in any part of India and see if you can change the lives of of people of that village.

Most of the focus by educated Indians has been to take up activities in the Cities, understandably due to convenience. But it is the Rural India that needs this support to transform. Please consider.

http://akash-ganga-rwh.com/village/TripReportKuthambakkam.html

Look forward to your responses.
Please send your replies to Ramrajah@optushome.comau

I am sure Ram Krishnan will help set up a network to assist with adopting villages. My 1970 IITM batch has an Initiative Called ENVIKAL spearheaded by my good friend N.T.Nathan and we have adopted a village called Alamathi. I will try and coax my batch mates to extend our efforts to adopt this village and duplicate the efforts based on this model. Our efforts at Envikal are now now limited to internet and CAD training of the underpriveleged school Children at Alamathi in Tamil Nadu. With Nathans support I am proud to say that Jeevodaya, my pet Charity was able to screen most members of Alamathi for Cancer. ( Ram may be you should organise a cancer screening of all members of Kuthambakkam Village.)

May the force be with you.
Just like "Little Drops Make an Ocean"
I am sure "Little efforts can bring about a BIG change"
Ramboaus
IIT Global-Moderator

Rajat Gupta- MD of McKinsey- Indian enterpreneurship & the need of the hour...

2005-12-29T21:02:00.000-08:00

Indian enterpreneurship & the need of the hour...
Rajat Gupta- MD of McKinsey-
Posted by Ramboaus (Message No 277)

I am aware that this article is almost two years old. I am also aware that India has made a huge progress in the IT-Sector especially in Bangalore and Hyderabad during this period. Now the question is does anyone have any figures on how much progress India has made in this sector in the last two years and how does this stack up with this article by Rajat Gupta ??

I would like to invite Rajat Gupta to brief this group of IITians on the progress made by ISB and the achievements of India Venture 2000 as well as the successes of TIE India Angel Forum

Ramboaus
Moderator.
''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
(Rajat Gupta is the Managing Director of McKinsey & Company and also the Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Indian School of Business.)

Rajat gupta's article:
India Today, February 12, 2001
India needs entrepreneurs.

It needs them for two reasons:
to capitalise on new opportunities and to create wealth and new jobs. A recent McKinsey & Company-Nasscom report estimates that India needs at least 8,000 new businesses to achieve its target of building a $ 87 billion IT sector by 2008.
Similarly, in the next 10 years, 110-130 million Indian citizens will be searching for jobs, including 80-100 million looking for their first jobs; that's seven times Australia's population. This does not include disguised unemployment of over 50% among the 230 million employed in rural India. Since traditional large employers - including the government and the old economy players - may find it difficult to sustain this level of employment in the future, it is entrepreneurs who will create these new jobs and opportunities.

Fortunately, today's knowledge-based economy is fertile ground for entrepreneurs in India. The success stories of businesses built on a great idea executed by a talented team have great appeal in India, where access to capital is scarce and regulation has often created barriers to success. And young Indians have a dream: to be the next Sabeer Bhatia of India. Estimates indicate that several thousand
'new economy' businesses were launched last year in India.

This is not just a "big-town" phenomenon. For example, when McKinsey & Company launched India Venture 2000, a business plan competition to catalyse entrepreneurship in India, many of the 4,500 teams that participated were from small towns such as Meerut, Siliguri, Warangal and Pollachi. I believe India has an extraordinary talent pool with virtually limitless potential to become entrepreneurs. India must, however, commit to creating the right environment to develop successful business builders. To do this, I believe India must focus on four
areas.

1. Create the right environment for success:

Entrepreneurs should find it easy to start a business. To do so, most Indians would start slow with capital borrowed from family and friends, the CEO playing the role of salesman and strategist, a professional team assembled months or perhaps years after the business was created, and few, if any, external partners. Compare this with a start-up in the Silicon Valley: a Venture Capitalist (VC) or angel investor would be brought in early on; a professional management team would drive the business; a multifunctional team would be assembled quickly; and partnerships would be explored early on to scale up the business.

A first challenge for India is to create a handful of such areas of excellence - the breeding ground where ideas grow into businesses. Some already exist in a very preliminary way (the businesses are there). For example, Gurgaon and Hyderabad for remote services, or Bangalore for IT services. But these areas of excellence need
strengthening before they can claim to be India's own "Valley." One way of strengthening these areas is to consider the role of universities and educational institutions - places where excellence typically thrives. Creating such educational institutions by strengthening the Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT's) and
starting new ones is going to be very important.

2. Ensure that entrepreneurs have access to the right skills:

A survey McKinsey & Company conducted last year revealed that most Indian start-up businesses face two skill gaps: entrepreneurial (how to manage business risks, build a team, identify and get funding)and functional (product development know-how, marketing skills, etc.). In other countries, entrepreneurs either gain these skills by hiring managers or have access to "support systems" such as universities or other institutions that may nurture many regional businesses. In addition, business schools give young graduates the skills and knowledge required for business today.

India can move toward ensuring that the curriculum at universities is modified to address today's changing business landscape, particularly in emerging markets, and to build 'centres of entrepreneurial excellence' in institutes that will actively assist entrepreneurs.

We believe the Indian School of Business (ISB) at Hyderabad provides a start in developing outstanding entrepreneurial leaders. ISB's program is designed primarily to prepare managers to respond to the challenges of rapidly changing business environments. Within an environment of intellectual vibrancy, the 500+ students who graduate each year will have studied entrepreneurship, strategy and the impact of technology on commerce. They will have spent time developing their own projects, while utilising state-of-the-art communications technology to interact with members of industry and experts worldwide.

The ISB will have an Entrepreneurship Centre founded, led and managed by several leading Silicon Valley entrepreneurs, who are on the school's Governing Board. The Centre will help students become successful entrepreneurs by offering a diverse set of programmes, activities and facilities such as a New Business Development
Project, an on-campus incubator, an Entrepreneur-in-Residence programme, field projects, and a Young Entrepreneurs Club.

3. Ensure that entrepreneurs have access to 'smart' capital:

For a long time, Indian entrepreneurs have had little access to capital. It is true that in the last few years, several Venture Funds have entered the Indian market. And, while the sector is still in its infancy in India (with estimated total disbursements of <$ 0.5 billion last year), VCs are providing capital as well as critical knowledge and access to potential partners, suppliers, and clients
across the globe. However India has only a few angel investors who support an idea in the early stages before VCs become involved. Our experience during India Venture 2000 showed this to be a critical gap. While associations such as TIE are seeking to bridge the gap (by working at creating a TIE India Angel Forum), this is India's
third challenge: creating a global support network of 'angels' willing to support young businesses.

4. Enable networking and exchange:

Entrepreneurs learn from experience - theirs and that of others. Much of the success of Indians in Silicon Valley is attributed to the experience, sharing and support TIE members have extended to young entrepreneurs. During India Venture 2000, we were delighted by the eagerness with which established entrepreneurs, who still remembered the challenges they faced, offered to support start-ups. Clearly, India would benefit from creating a strong network of entrepreneurs and managers that
entrepreneurs could draw on for advice and support.

The rapid pace of globalisation and the fast growth of Asian economies present tremendous opportunities and challenges for India. Through planning and focus, India can aspire to create the pool of entrepreneurs who will be the region's - and the world's - leaders of tomorrow.

Bhupendra Raja, an IITK alumnus is an OBE

2005-12-29T20:58:00.000-08:00

Bhupendra Raja, an IITK alumnus is an OBE
Posted by Dr.Pradip on ist January 2003 ( Message No 276)
................................

From what I see this 1975 Batch from IIT Kanpur has quite a few GEMS. Well done Bhupendra Raja and Congrats. I was in UK for months from May to end Ausust last year. Wish I had known we could have shared a Guiness one evening at a Pub. Thanks Pradip for forwarding this real good message for posting on the first day of 2003 message .

Would be nice if all members remember include their Batch, Branch and IIT details with messages.

Cheers
Ramboaus
Moderator.
..................................

Hi all

One of our very own, Bhupendra Raja, an IITK alumnus BTech, 1970 - 75) is in the list of honours announced today by the British Queen. He is abrilliant engineer, an outstanding manager of people and extremely nice human being. Interestingly
enough he is being honoured for his services to racial equality. I have had the opportunity to meet him after 25 long years in our silver jubilee reunion at IITK in the year 2000. It was indeed a pleasure and a priveledge to talk with Bhupendra -
a person with immense knowledge, wit and substance.

Our heartiest congratulations to Bhupendra. We are all proud of your accomplishments.

We wish Bhupendra a long and fruitful life ahead, many more honours and accolades to win.

Regards
Pradip
........................................
Bhupendra Raja is an OBE!
"Deepak Mohoni" [Class-of-75]
31/12/02 08:05 PM

Great news - our very own Raja has just been awarded an OBE by the Rani.

Here's the extract from the page where the complete list appears

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/2615445.stm

"Bhupendra Raja. Lately Assistant Director,
Department of Trade and Industry.
For services to Racial Equality. (Elstree, Hertfordshire)".

Cheers,
Deepak

TeNeT- Message from Prof Ashok Jhunjhunwala, IIT Madras

2005-12-29T20:54:00.000-08:00

TeNeT- Message from Prof Ashok Jhunjhunwala, IIT Madras
Oosted By Raj Varadarajan on 31st December 2002 ( Message 270)

Fellow Members,
Prof Ashok Jhunjhunwala-Padmasree, of IIT-Kanpur-Madras & TeNet fame needs no introduction. The State of TamilNadu has set aside ten acres of the best available land adjacent to IIT Madras Campus to create a Technology Park. You have guessed it right Prof Ashok Jhun Jhunwala has been appointed to spearhead this effort. The following is a message form him to all IIT-Alumni and all Indians in general to join forces so that we can take big strides in making India a better place. I request that every member spend just a few minutes to see if he can any remote way assist Prof Jhunjhunwalas programmes.
Cheers
Ramboaus
Moderator
..................................

My dear friends,

Greetings from India, IIT and me.

Several friends and alumni have been exploring to find ways how they can pay back to IIT and India the debt of gratitude they feel, for what they are today. I am sure many of you are doing your bit privately wherever and whenever you can to help
humanity in general.

You may be aware that TeNeT group started its journey to bring telephone service in India, available to the common man. We have worked on a dream to provide 200 million telephone and internet connections in India. Towards this, affordability in India was recognised as a key issue. We have therefore worked to bring down the CAPEX cost of telecom infrastructure and played our part in bringing it down from over Rs 35K per line to about Rs. 18k per line. We have developed technologies and incubated companies towards this. Today we are dedicating ourselves to connect rural areas of India and have been promoting n-Logue communications towards this.

Similarly there are several leading institutions in India who are doing very advanced work in all fields including design and manufacture.

Alumni and Indians are around the world. They can use their contacts in India and the country they live in. I request all of you to be salesmen, good will ambassadors
or front office personnel to help the country you live in by channeling the research, development, design, and manufacturing work where it will benefit both the
countries. This you should do as a profitable venture so it is sustainable and makes sense to everyone involved.

Wishing you all the best in the new year.

Ashok Jhunjhunwala
Professor Elec Engg
IIT Madras

Address by Director of IIT-Madras- Prof M.S.Ananth on Dec 29, 2002

2005-12-29T20:47:00.000-08:00

Address by Director of IIT-Madras- Prof M.S.Ananth on Dec 29, 2002
Posted By Rama Krishnan IITM 67 ( Message No 262 )

----- Original Message -----
From: Ram Krishnan
To: RamboAus
.....................................

Address by Director Prof M.S.Ananth on Dec 29, 2002
Sunday, in the campus.

During the 1977 and 1972 batch alumni reunion event

This event was webcast thanks to Ravi Chandran - owner of Chennai Online - an alumnus himself. http://www.chennaionline.com/iitmaa77/webcast.asp

Edited video files should be available at this site in a few days.

Consider the following as 'unofficial', 'unapproved' notes prepared by Ram Krishnan - IITMAANA - who watched the webcast in its entirety.

Ananth's presentation:

He used a PowerPoint presentation entitled - "Vision 2010"

1. Origin of IIT's - starting with Jawaharlal Nehru's vision, how the different IIT's got started, growth over the years, emphasis shifting based on various
needs, undergraduate education still the main focus, emerging needs for more relevant research, 'maintain a dynamic equilibrium with surroundings'

2. Why he suggests that the speaker repeat the message 7 times? Because only 1/7th audience is listening to you at any given time (on a light vein)

3. Student exchange program - many IITM students going to Germany and some German students coming to IITM (the Germans find that the Math level in IITM is too
high)

4. Satellite remote campus of IITM in Trichy with support from BHEL. Doing well. Could lead to more similar efforts.

5. Research areas - as highlighted by the Planning commission - a number of specific areas (should get this list from Prof Ananth, infact get the whole PPT)

6. Technology Park - next door in Taramani village. The Tamil Nadu government has allocated around 10 acres in the old MGR Film campus. Under Prof Ashok Jhunjhunwala's leadership. Why get more space when IITM has 650 acres? Local rules to maintain the campus as a forest preserve, only 15% can be developed.

7. A new Boys hostel being designed. Some student groups had some design inputs. May be a multi-storey building - higher than the present hostels.

8. Mentioned a number of alumni supported projects starting with Sharawathi hostel, computer set-up in the library, a new computer centre which is already fully occupied.

9. In the process of providing connectivity to hostel rooms - Intranet in each hostel room, Internet in the common rooms.

10. A new common mess opened a few months ago. Close to OAT.

11. A new Gajendra circle memorabilia shop - permanent basis - on the ground floor of the Admin building - where the Director's office is located.

12. new electric motor driven buses used in the campus. The IC engine lab is working on a hybrid engine - using diesel and electric power - without the need for recharging (like the Toyato Prius)

13. Currently about 1/3 of the B.Tech graduates go abroad.

14. Some IITM faculty and student groups involved in Rural development projects. Would welcome new ideas from alumni

15. Completed the drinking water project - 2 reverse osmosis plants. Provides clean drinking water and for cooking in the various hostel kitchens

16. Concept of a dual degree. Normal 4-year program to get a B.Tech degree. A 5-year program to get a dual degree - B.Tech and M.Tech.

17. Inter-disciplinary faculty groups formed to encourage more relevant research areas. The 11-member group called Tenet Group by Prof Ashok Jhunjhunwala is
an example.

18. Media Lab with help from HP underway.

19. TCS (Tata Consulting Services) has interest in developing software jointly with IITM

20. On IIT50 - coming to San Jose. Was concerned with the security aspects of all 7 IIT Directors traveling at the same time. Also was wondering why a panel discussion taking place in San Jose should set the vision of IIT's. Shouldn't this vision discussion take place within India ???

21. Will know by jan 7th when the MHRD Minister Joshi will give the approval for the Directors to travel to US for the IIT50.

Earlier, the Director presented Distinguished Alumni awards to

Mr.B.S.Sudhir Chandra(1964-B.Tech/Civil) - Railways
Mr.K.V.Rangaswami(1965-B.Tech/Civil) - Larsen and Toubro
Dr.Meera Chandrasekhar(1970-M.Sc/Physics) - Univ of Missouri - Columbia MO
=====
Ram Krishnan
St.Paul Minn USA
651-633-4251 (office) / 651-631-8622 (home) / 612-867-9425 (cell)
WebSite : www.raincentre.org for Rain Centre in Chennai
My YahooID is rkrishnan46 : Email - rkrishnan46@yahoo.com

How Our Taxes Work...

2005-12-29T20:44:00.000-08:00

From: "Raju Jairam"
Date: Thu Dec 26, 2002 10:59 am (Message 251)

Subject: How Our Taxes Work...

How Taxes Work....

This is a VERY simple way to understand the tax laws. Read on -- it does make
you think!!

Let's put tax cuts in terms everyone can understand. Suppose that every day,
ten men go out for dinner. The bill for all ten comes to $100. If they paid their
bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this.

The first four men -- the poorest -- would pay nothing; the fifth would pay $1,
the sixth would pay $3, the seventh $7, the eighth $12, the ninth $18, and
the tenth man -- the richest -- would pay $59.

That's what they decided to do. The ten men ate dinner in the restaurant
every day and seemed quite happy with the arrangement -- until one day,
the owner threw them a curve (in tax language a tax cut).

"Since you are all such good customers," he said, "I'm going to reduce the
cost of your daily meal by $20." So now dinner for the ten only cost $80.00.

The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes. So the first
four men were unaffected. They would still eat for free. But what about the other
six -- the paying customers? How could they divvy up the $20 windfall so
that everyone would get his "fair share?"

The six men realized that $20 divided by six is $3.33. But if they subtracted
that from everybody's share, Then the fifth man and The sixth man would end
up being PAID to eat their meal. So the restaurant owner suggested that it would
be fair to reduce each man's bill by roughly the same amount, and he
proceeded to work out the amounts each should pay.

And so the fifth man paid nothing, the sixth pitched in $2, the seventh paid $5,
the eighth paid $9, the ninth paid $12, leaving the tenth man with a bill of $52
instead of his earlier $59. Each of the six was better off than before. And the
first four continued to eat for free.

But once outside the restaurant, the men began to compare their savings.
"I only got a dollar out of the $20," declared the sixth man, but he, pointing
to the tenth. "But he got $7!". "Yeah, that's right," exclaimed the fifth man,
"I only saved a dollar, too, ........It's unfair that he got seven times more than me!".

"That's true!" shouted the seventh man," why should he get $7 back when I
got only $2? The wealthy get all the breaks!". Wait a minute," yelled the
first four men in unison, "We didn't get anything at all. The system exploits
the poor!"

The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up. The next night he
didn't show up for dinner, so the nine sat down and ate without him. But
when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered, a little late what was
very important. They were FIFTY-TWO DOLLARS short of paying the bill!

Imagine that!

And that, boys and girls, journalists and college instructors, is how the tax
system works. The people who pay the highest taxes get the most benefit
from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy,
and they just may not show up at the table anymore.

Where would that leave the rest? Unfortunately, most taxing
authorities anywhere cannot seem to grasp this rather
straightforward logic!

T. Davies Professor of Accounting & Chair,
Division of Accounting and Business Law
The University of South Dakota School of Business
414 E. Clark Street Vermillion, SD 57069
Phone: 605-677-5230
Fax: 605-677-5427

Jagath Chandra Giri - B Tech IITM 1969

2005-12-29T20:39:00.000-08:00

High Achiever - Jagath Chandra Giri - B Tech IITM 1969
Posted by Ramboaud 0n 22nd December 2002 ( Message 246 )

Dr. Giri Jay.C - Jagath Chandra Giri B.Tech 1969, IIT Madras.
Director, Applications Engineering , ALSTOM ESCA , Bellevue,WA, 98004, USA
Telephone- 425 739 3445, Fax- 425 889 1700,
Email- jay.giri@alstom.esca.com
...................

Birthdate-Sep 14th 1948
Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, India - B. Tech- 1969
State University of New York, Stony Brook, NY- M.S.-1971
Clarkson University-Potsdam, NY, Ph.D-1977
1978 to present-ALSTOM ESCA

Manager, Power System Applications, Leads team of 20-30 power system engineers to develop Real-time control software for EMS Responsible for innovation in design and the practical implementation world-wide, of state-of-the-art EMS software for AGC and dispatcher training simulators. Almost two decades of people leadership and management of power system software engineers, for development of state-of-technology real-time control system EMS software.
____________

INDIVIDUAL CONTRIBUTIONS.
Co-founder of ALSTOM ESCA in 1978, which is now the recognized world-wide leader in the supply of EMS technology. ESCA has grown from 12 staff in 1978 to over 400 in 2001.

Originally designed and implemented the first generation ‘advanced dispatcher training simulator’. This simulator design has been the foundation of training, testing and development for over two decades.

Originally designed and implemented an innovative comprehensive new AGC function which was tunable online; this function provided a suite of optional features that were user-selectable online. This AGC function is currently running round-the-clock and controlling generation at over 50% of US utility generation capacity and at numerous other national utilities such as South Africa, Portugal, Greece, India, Australia, etc.

Giri has been responsible for almost two decades of management in leading a team of 10 to 30 power system software engineers (mostly PhD and MS) in the development of state-of-the-art real-time EMS software for network analysis, generation control, training simulators, distribution network analysis and dynamic security analysis.

In 1978, co-founded ESCA with 11 other power system engineers. Over the past 5 years, ALSTOM ESCA has been the world-wide leader in EMS orders, has captured the dominant share of US EMS business and has numerous international installations. Is currently member of the ESCA Executive team.

Was solely responsible for the original design, coding and implementation of the ESCA AGC and training simulator software. This original software continues to be the foundation of the current ALSTOM EMS product offering. The ALSTOM AGC and simulator functions are utilized world-wide in controlling load and frequency of power system grids and training operators, for the majority of US utilities and for numerous national utilities world-wide.

Was responsible for almost two decades of people management and the development of the team of power system analysis software engineers. Team is currently 30 staff mostly MS or PhDs in power systems. Staff in the team have an average of 8 to 10 years of EMS experience and some are considered international experts in the EMS field.

Since 1990, Giri has been an Affiliate Professor at the University of Washington; has served on PhD committees, presented seminars and has taught a course on distribution systems.

Has been active in national and local IEEE activities; member of the following IEEE committees: PES, System Operations, Energy Control Center, Operator Training, Transmission Operations, Transmission Security, Power system stability, CAMS, COPS, Restoration.

Member of the technical committee of the 1999 and 2002 PSCC conferences

The ALSTOM ESCA AGC product.

The entire AGC code was originally designed, coded and implemented by Giris Team.
This is now part of the ESCA integrated EMP product offering has been deployed world-wide at over 100 sites. Consists of software code, documents, training material, and other product collateral. AGC runs round-the-clock at these sites controlling system frequency and following load; one of the largest systems is in South Africa where the entire country’s frequency is being controlled from a central site. A major segment (over 50%) of the US generation capacity is under ESCA AGC control.

The ALSTOM ESCA DTS product.

The power system dynamic simulation code (power plants and relays), the instructor subsystem code and interfaces with the EMS were originally designed, coded and implemented by the candidate. This is now part of the ESCA integrated EMP product offering has been deployed world-wide at over 100 sites. Consists of software code, documents, training material, and other product collateral. DTS is used for training operators and testing new functions. This has allowed all the ALSTOM ESCA customers worldwide to learn the product offline and to be able to conduct realistic factory tests prior to actual field implementation.

IEEE technical papers and Member Panel Sessions.

* "An Advanced Dispatcher Training Simulator", with Podmore, et al, PICA, Philadelphia, May 1981, also IEEE PAS Transactions, Vol. PAS-101, Number 1, pp 17-24, January 1982
* "Implementation and field experience of a national energy control system", with Barazesh,et al, PICA, Seattle, 1989, IEEE 89CH2747-4
* "An integrated scheme for online static and transient stability constrained ATC calculations", with Pavella, et al, IEEE SPM, Edmonton, Canada, July 1999.
* "Adaptation of EMS functions in a market environment", invited panelist, short paper, IEEE WPM, Singapore, Jan. 2000.
* Co-author of chapter 62 "Energy Management", with Stanton and Bose, The Electrical Engineering Handbook, editor, Richard Dorf, pp 1344-54, CRC Press 1993.
* Promoted to ESCA Executive team in 2000 in recognition of people management and business management results.
* Currently, Manager of team of highly qualified power system engineers some of who are internationally recognized experts in the field.
* Technical advisor/consultant for the European Commission sponsored project OMASES, related to development of online stability capability in an EMS. Project started in December 200) with ALSTOM France as lead; consortium members include ENEL, Tractebel, PPC Greece, and the following universities: Liege, NTUA, Strathclyde.
* Affiliate Professor of Electrical Engineering at University of Washington since 1990.
* Original author of the ESCA AGC analyst guide which describes process for online, non-disruptive tuning of AGC.
* Member of the technical committee for the European PSCC 1999, 2002
* Applications technical lead for helping secure the EMS projects for the 3 India projects: Northern region, North-east and Eastern. These projects will computerize the northern half of India with EMSs that will be communicating with each other in real-time. A key function will be optimizing all the available hydro resources in order to minimize the need for rotating blackouts.

Member of IEEE since 1976., Fellow of IEEE since Jan 2002.
Member of the following IEEE PES committees and subcommittees:

PES, System Operations, Energy Control Center, Transmission Operations, Transmission Security, Power System Stability, Operator Training, CAMS, COPS, power system restoration.

Chaired paper sessions at IEEE WPM and SPM conferences.
Presented papers and participated in panel sessions at IEEE WPM/SPM conferences.
Member of 1995, Power System Restoration working group which received the IEEE PES Working Group Recognition Award.
Affiliate Professor at the University of Washington, Seattle since 1990.
Member of Technical Committee for PSCC 1999 and 2002.
Co-author of EMS Chapter in the Electrical Engineering handbook, edited by Richard Dorf, CRC press, 1993, 2000.

IITM Alumnus IBM Fellow C. Mohan Awarded IEEE and ACM Fellowships

2005-12-29T20:26:00.000-08:00

IITM Alumnus IBM Fellow C. Mohan Awarded IEEE and ACM Fellowships
By P.S.Ramanathan
Posted 22nd December 2002 (Message 245)

Dear Shri.Mohan,

IT IS GREAT to hear that YOU ARE the BLUE of the BIG BLUE!!!

Your mail expresses the entire situation with a crispness that is befitting a IBM guy/gal.

I have always believed that it is the silent achievers like you who have created a solid foundation for the brand equity, synonymous with our institute.

Our director Prof.MS is also a whole hearted supported of such low profile 100% achievers.

On behalf of IITMadras Alumni association I WISH YOU CONTINUED SUCCESS in all your future endeavors.

I personally share this joyous moment with you and wish you and your family the very best.

Yours Truly,

WITH BEST WISHES FOR A GREAT SILVER REUNION and A VERY HAPPY 2003 and BEYOND.

Regards P.S.Ramnathan B.Tech. Chemical 1975 Honorary secretary IITMAA 2002-03 ananjoti@vsnl.com also at secretaryiitmaa@yahoo.co.uk
......................

-----Original Message-----
From: C Mohan [mailto:mohan@almaden.ibm.com]
Sent: Sunday, December 22, 2002 7:52 AM
To: "M.S. Ananth"
Subject: IITM Alumnus IBM Fellow C. Mohan Awarded IEEE and ACM Fellowships

Dear Prof. Ananth (and others),

I am sure you won't remember me. I used to be a B.Tech. student in IITM during 1972-77. You have taught me also! Just in an attempt to jog your memory: Even though I was a chemical engineering student, I used to be passionate about computer science (CS), and hang out at the computer center all the time and I served as an office bearer of the IITM Computer Club during 1975-77. I used to be known as Computer Mohan and I actually wound up doing my BTech project in CS with Prof. Muthukrishnan as my advisor. Ultimately, I did a PhD in CS from University of Texas at Austin and joined IBM Research in San Jose in 1981, where I am currently an IBM Fellow (one of 51 in all of IBM), working mostly in the database management area. This being the year of the 25th anniversary of my IITM graduation, I am currently in Madras ((044) 2815 6636) and I am looking forward to meeting you and many of my classmates at the Silver Reunion after a gap of 25 years. I ! am very happy to inform you and the others that, as if to celebrate this occasion, a few weeks ago I was named an ACM Fellow and an IEEE Fellow. I have attached a file and inlined an IBM announcement about these fellowships. In case accomplishments like this by IITM alumni get publicized in any way (IITM web sites, Alumni newsletters, Chennai Online, The Hindu, SiliconIndia, etc.), especially in the context of our Silver Reunion and the IIT50 Celebration in Silicon Valley, I thought that this announcement may be of interest to you and the others. I have also copied some of my well wishers over the years, and people associated with the Silver Reunion and IIT50. If any more info is needed on my work, IBM Fellowship, ACM SIGMOD Innovations Award, etc., the following web pages can be looked at:

http://www.almaden.ibm.com/u/mohan/bio.html
http://www.almaden.ibm.com/u/mohan/fellow.html
http://www.almaden.ibm.com/u/mohan/

Please excuse me for blowing my own trumpet :-)))

With best wishes,
Mohan
********
C. Mohan, IBM Fellow, IBM Almaden Research Center
650 Harry Road, K01/B1, San Jose, CA 95120, USA
mohan@almaden.ibm.com, http://www.almaden.ibm.com/u/mohan/
Work: +1 408 927 1733, Cell: +1 408 206 4027, Fax: +1 646 607 3180
********

News
C. Mohan elected IEEE and ACM Fellow
12/16/2002 12:18 PM

The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and The Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) recently elected IBM Fellow, C. Mohan of Almaden an IEEE Fellow and an ACM Fellow, respectively.

"Mohan has been recognized worldwide for his innovative contributions to the development and use of database systems and as a leading innovator in transaction management," said Almaden Director Robert Morris. "We are very proud that he was elected Fellow in these two prestigious organizations."

The IEEE Board of Directors elected Mohan an IEEE Fellow, one of the Institute's most prestigious honors, for his "contributions to robust high-performance transaction management." Since 1963, IEEE has acknowledged individuals whose contributions positively impacted the advancement of engineering science and technology, bestowing the honor of Fellow on recipients with an extraordinary record of accomplishments in any of the IEEE fields of interest. Upon election, Fellows receive an IEEE Fellow pin and a certificate, that serve as visible recognition of their election to the highest grade of membership in the IEEE.

The ACM elected Mohan an ACM Fellow, for his "outstanding technical and professional achievements in computer science and information technology, and for his significant contributions to the mission of the ACM." The Fellows induction ceremony will be held at the ACM Awards Banquet on June 7, 2003, in conjunction with the Federated Computing Research Conference in San Diego. The ACM Fellows serve as distinguished colleagues who provide guidance and leadership to the ACM and its members.

About the IEEE
The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE) is a non-profit, technical professional association of more than 377,000 individual members in 150 countries. Through its members, the IEEE is a leading authority in technical areas ranging from computer engineering, biomedical technology and telecommunications, to electric power, aerospace and consumer electronics, among others. Through its technical publishing, conferences, and consensus-based standard activities, the IEEE produces 30% of the world's published literature in electrical engineering, computers and control technology; holds annually more than 300 major conferences; and has nearly 900 active standards with 799 under development. http://www.acm.org/

Soft Ware Stress by Fred Rodrigues IITM M Tech

2005-12-29T20:18:00.001-08:00

In iitmaaausnz@yahoogroups.com,
Fred Rodrigues wrote:
Psoted 8th December 2002 ( Message 225 )

Stress takes its toll on Indian Techies
Bangalore, Dec 8

After leading a life filled with flashy cars and fancy parties, many software developers in Bangalore are visiting psychiatrists as stress and fear of losing their jobs take a heavy toll, doctors say.

"A lot more software engineers are walking in with stress-related problems now than an year ago," said C R Chandrashekar, head of the Department of Psychiatry at NIMHans -the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences in Bangalore.

"These guys complain of lack of appetite, body pains, anxiety, restlessness and poor concentration which are clear symptoms of stress," Chandrashekar told AFP.

"Some are burned out and others suffer from depression and anxiety. It is sheer workload and competition. Another key factor is the fear their job will not be there the next day" he said.

Bangalore is home to more than 100,000 software code writers and engineers, and accounts for about a fourth of India's software exports of eight billion dollars in the last fiscal year.

During the dotcom boom two years ago, software engineers were receiving fat pay packets and were very much in demand.

But psychiatrists said a depressed technology market and announcements of massive lay-offs by global firms have driven Indian software professionals to the edge.

"Some of them came to me and said when they went to office they found severance pay packet being laid out on the table. Others fear they will get only Rs 5,000 in place of the Rs 150,000 they were earning in their last job," Chandrashekar said.

"So, their prestige is lost among their friends. People laugh at them. Many of them do not have skills to cope up with this kind of stress. In other cases, they cannot keep pace with competition from juniors and peers," he said.

Doctors said the software professionals worked late hours and to strict deadlines which meant they were burning themselves out at a young age.

"Most of them are between 24 and 30 years of age," said psychiatrist R Srinivas, who has worked at Bangalore's St John's Hospital's psychiatry department for the past
18 years.

"They work for very long hours alone in a cubicle. When they travel abroad they have to cope up with a new culture. The suffering is more when despite all this there is a fear of being pink-slipped," Srinivas said.

According to market intelligence company International Data Corp, the global information technology industry suffered its worst patch ever in 2002, slumping 2.3 percent.

"Most of the cases coming to our hospital are burn-out cases. But the number of stress-related cases are also rising steadily," Srinivas said.

While some of the stressed-out Bangalore software engineers visit hospitals, many prefer to go in for self-help counselling groups in the city.

Ali Khwaja, director of Helping Hand, a voluntary counselling group, said family members were also joining in to help their stressed relatives.

"Roughly three software engineers are being counselled every day here. A year ago we would have one every three or four days."

"There are a lot of family members especially spouses, girlfriends and fathers coming in for counselling also," Khwaja said.

The lifestyle of software engineers contributes to their stress levels, doctors said. "They are earning too much too early. Being in a group which is comprising of young people without proper responsibility or projecting they have no responsibility is a disadvantage," Khwaja said.

He said there was an outward show of "false freedom and bravado" by software professionals who live life on a fast lane.

"Costly cars, latest mobile phones, brand new apartments and a fat bank balance are taken as symbols of prosperity. When one adds a fragile ego to that list, we can clearly see they are caught up in a strange environment," Khwaja said.

"It is a very materialistic world out there," he said.

Soft Ware Stress by Fred Rodrigues IITM M Tech

2005-12-29T20:18:00.000-08:00

In iitmaaausnz@yahoogroups.com,
Fred Rodrigues wrote:
Stress takes its toll on Indian Techies
Bangalore, Dec 8

After leading a life filled with flashy cars and fancy parties, many software developers in Bangalore are visiting psychiatrists as stress and fear of losing their jobs take a heavy toll, doctors say.

"A lot more software engineers are walking in with stress-related problems now than an year ago," said C R Chandrashekar, head of the Department of Psychiatry at NIMHans -the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences in Bangalore.

"These guys complain of lack of appetite, body pains, anxiety, restlessness and poor concentration which are clear symptoms of stress," Chandrashekar told AFP.

"Some are burned out and others suffer from depression and anxiety. It is sheer workload and competition. Another key factor is the fear their job will not be there the next day" he said.

Bangalore is home to more than 100,000 software code writers and engineers, and accounts for about a fourth of India's software exports of eight billion dollars in the last fiscal year.

During the dotcom boom two years ago, software engineers were receiving fat pay packets and were very much in demand.

But psychiatrists said a depressed technology market and announcements of massive lay-offs by global firms have driven Indian software professionals to the edge.

"Some of them came to me and said when they went to office they found severance pay packet being laid out on the table. Others fear they will get only Rs 5,000 in place of the Rs 150,000 they were earning in their last job," Chandrashekar said.

"So, their prestige is lost among their friends. People laugh at them. Many of them do not have skills to cope up with this kind of stress. In other cases, they cannot keep pace with competition from juniors and peers," he said.

Doctors said the software professionals worked late hours and to strict deadlines which meant they were burning themselves out at a young age.

"Most of them are between 24 and 30 years of age," said psychiatrist R Srinivas, who has worked at Bangalore's St John's Hospital's psychiatry department for the past
18 years.

"They work for very long hours alone in a cubicle. When they travel abroad they have to cope up with a new culture. The suffering is more when despite all this there is a fear of being pink-slipped," Srinivas said.

According to market intelligence company International Data Corp, the global information technology industry suffered its worst patch ever in 2002, slumping 2.3 percent.

"Most of the cases coming to our hospital are burn-out cases. But the number of stress-related cases are also rising steadily," Srinivas said.

While some of the stressed-out Bangalore software engineers visit hospitals, many prefer to go in for self-help counselling groups in the city.

Ali Khwaja, director of Helping Hand, a voluntary counselling group, said family members were also joining in to help their stressed relatives.

"Roughly three software engineers are being counselled every day here. A year ago we would have one every three or four days."

"There are a lot of family members especially spouses, girlfriends and fathers coming in for counselling also," Khwaja said.

The lifestyle of software engineers contributes to their stress levels, doctors said. "They are earning too much too early. Being in a group which is comprising of young people without proper responsibility or projecting they have no responsibility is a disadvantage," Khwaja said.

He said there was an outward show of "false freedom and bravado" by software professionals who live life on a fast lane.

"Costly cars, latest mobile phones, brand new apartments and a fat bank balance are taken as symbols of prosperity. When one adds a fragile ego to that list, we can clearly see they are caught up in a strange environment," Khwaja said.

"It is a very materialistic world out there," he said.

Hospices: Are they necessary in India?

2005-12-29T20:03:00.000-08:00

Hospices: Are they necessary in India?
By Dr. Manjula Krishnaswamy M.S
(Honorary Medical Director-Jeevodaya)
Posted December 13th 2002 ( Messag 219 )

The hospice movement was obviously started by people who saw with their hearts, people, who not only saw, but, who reacted to the plight of these unfortunate people by reaching out to help them, as they limped along slowly and painfully, to finish the last lap of their lives for, finish, it, they must!

The hospice, a home away from home for terminally ill patients, is said to have originated in France several years' back and is a very popular concept in the western world. In England alone, a country which is smaller in area and population to many of our Indian states, there are around 200 hospices. Of late, however, they are steering away from hospice and moving towards home care. This is quite understandable, as these countries have developed an excellent health care system. With a manageable population, better socio-economic standards and higher literary background, a patient can very well be managed at home, if health care is delivered at his doorstep as it is done in these countries. This is as it should be, for there can be no place like home.

In India, on the contrary as in most third world countries, the panorama is entirely different and in no way comparable to the west. The hospice movement, or for that matter palliative care itself is still in its infancy in India. The first hospice "Shanti Avedna" was started in Mumbai in 1988. "Jeevodaya" the second hospice in India and the first of its kind in South India was registered in Chennai in 1990 and started inpatient care in 1995.

It is true that the family structure in India is such that the responsibility of looking after a patient rests with the family, but, to generalise and to assume that every patient has a loving family, caring for him or for that matter to assume that every patient has a family at all is to deceive ourselves.

We have studied the types of patients and the reasons for admission to our hospice and are convinced, more than ever, that there is scope to start many such hospices all over the country.

* DESTITUTE PATIENTS :

Any one familiar with India will not question the existence of destitutes or the life they are forced to lead - their plight gets compounded when they are struck with a disease that cripples them so much that they are unable to fend for themselves.

Mrs. Sakunthala (name changed) was picked up by the police from the platform and admitted in a Govt. hospital, where we found her on the floor, near the toilet with not a yard of clothing on her. She had a massive fungating tumor of her breast, crawling with maggots - no one wanted to go anywhere near her. We had her transferred to the hospice where she was cleaned, clothed and made to look like what she was meant to be - a human being. She died peacefully in the hospice after a couple of days, surrounded by people who cared for her. The last rites were done by the hospice.

She is one of the many destitute cancer patients, whom we picked up on receiving information, some from the roadsides and some from the hospitals. Many others are brought to us by social workers. These patients constitute only a miniscule of the destitute population scattered all over the country and - if we do not care who cares?

* ABANDONED PATIENTS :

Many patients are abandoned by their families, for reasons, that may be convincing in some, perhaps not others but still the fact remains that they have nowhere to go.

1. Poverty

Three hundred million Indians now live below the poverty line. There is an eternal struggle for existence, a scramble for the next meal. When a healthy person has to struggle to survive, a sick person does not stand a chance. The family transfers the patient to a government hospital, give a false address and then do the disappearing act.

Miss Banu (name changed) was a 14-year-old who had Ewing Sarcoma of her leg. She was one of five motherless children who had a drunkard for a father, who used her sickness to make her beg on the streets. When she became very sick, he admitted her in a Govt. Hospital. The child underwent an amputation of her leg, but when the time came for her discharge, the father was nowhere to be found. Efforts to trace her family with the help of local police were of no avail - she was transferred to the hospice, where she spent the rest of her days in as much peace and comfort as on can get under such circumstances.

2. Lack of living spaces

Often large families live in small spaces - huts or single rooms - and to have a patient with foul smelling wounds would be near impossible. The neighbors too start complaining, hence out of compulsion, these patients ate either driven out or abandoned in hospitals.

Mrs. Radha (name changed) belonged to the upper middle class and she had a loving family - husband, son and daughter who doted on her. When she developed cancer of the breast, the family gave her the best care, surgery, RT and CT in the so-called five star hospitals, but inspite of treatment, the disease progressed. When we saw her she was in a grossly advanced stage with frank gangrene of her arm and chest wall with pus pouring from everywhere. At that stage none of the private hospitals or nursing homes were prepared to take her in - and the neighbors (the family was living in an apartment) started objecting to the smell emanating from her room. The family were desperate for help - and that was when Jeevodaya stepped in.

* Abandoned by spouses

Sad is the story of young women developing breast or cervical cancer. This is a good reason for her husband to forget her and turn elsewhere. Not that wives do not desert their husbands - many a time the wife runs away to her parents home, but the usual story is of the wife having to seek employment, often doing menial work to feed and clothe her children, leaving her with little time to look after her husband (if she does come to see him she often gets beaten up by the husband because he suspects her fidelity!)

* Widows and spinsters

Widows and spinsters are a deprived lot - especially the latter as no one feels morally obliged to look after them.

Miss Parvathy (name changed) was a teacher in school. As long as she was earning and contributing to the family, she was a welcome member in her brother's house. However when she became bed ridden with cancer of the breast her brother insisted that his other sister should take turns to look after her and sent her there - where she was politely refused entry. Heart broken she found her way to the hospice.

o PATIENTS SHUNNED BY SOCIETY

1. Large foul smelling wounds:
Mrs. Kanthi (name changed) a patient with cancer of the breast complained that she felt nauseated all the time and could not eat - reason? She could not tolerate the smell emanating from her wound "if I myself cannot tolerate the smell how can I expect others to come anywhere near me" she mourned pitiably.

2. Disfiguring lesions of the head and the neck:
Malignancies of the head and the neck make the patient look grotesque. With high prevalence of oral cancer - thanks to tobacco - some patients have half their faces missing. Adults and children alike dread to go near them. Unfortunately these patients have to bear the burden for long periods because these are slow growing tumors.

Miss Barthy aged 20 had a maxillary antral growth and her face was so distorted that even the doctors found it difficult to face her. She was a recluse in the house, confined to her room where no one except her parents would go. She felt so depressed that she stopped eating and was starving herself to death. It was at this stage that her parents brought her to the hospice. With all the love, care, and affection, she received there, she overcame her depression and became her normal self. She spent the remaining of her days in the hospice.

3. Ignorance:

4. Ignorance born of illiteracy - it is estimated that India has the highest illiterate population in the world - approximately 500 million. To them cancer is a contagious disease and patients are kept in isolation - the usual story is of the daughter-in-law refusing to let her child go anywhere near a sick grand parent - who yearns for children's company. Superstition:

Superstition is in the bone of every Indian, educated or uneducated - only the degree varies. Hence it is not surprising that for some at least, cancer is a curse of the God and the patient must be left alone to serve his karma.

o INABILITY TO BE MANAGED AT HOME

1. Needing Pain Relief: Pain as we know is all pervading problem of cancer. The medical practitioners are largely ignorant of the use of oral morphine or, even if they did know, there is no access to the drug, unless it is in a specialised centre like a hospice. This is the current picture, one, which has to be rapidly changed, if not, thousands of cancer patients will continue to live and die in pain.

2. Wounds Needing Repeated Dressing:

3. Some wounds are large with copious discharge and need to be dressed five or six times a day. This is not feasible in home or even hospital. Bedridden, paraplegic patients and bedsores:

4. Bedridden paraplegic patients with bedsores are always a challenge to the nursing profession. An institution like Jeevodaya alone can provide round the clock facilities like waterbeds, dressing, and individualised nursing care. Patients with VVF & RVF (Vesico-Vaginal & Recto-Vaginal Fistulas)

5. : Patients with VVF and RVF are usually due to cancer cervix - the constant dribbling of urine and leaking of motion can be acutely embarrassing to the patient in the home environment and also difficult to manage. Ostomy care:

6. Patients with ostomies generally are too weak to look after themselves and need somebody to help manage their ostomies. It is true that the caretaker can be trained, but for most patients, a caretaker, who cares is hard to come by. Patients needing special nutrition:

Some patients are on tube feeds or ostomy feeds. They need a nutritious diet to keep them going. The poor usually feed them with a dilute Kanji (porridge) or half-milk, half-water diet - these patients die of inanition rather than their disease.

o LACK OF MEDICAL INFRATSRUCTURE

India is a country of contradictions. The metropolitan cities boast of state of the art medical care - available to the wealthy few. The majority of the urban poor have to rely on the Government run hospitals, which are overcrowded, and busting at the seams. Palliative care is the least of their priorities. It is natural that they should devote their limited resources to patients who can be cured. There is lopsided concentration of doctors in the cities, but to see them one needs money and in any case the average medical practitioner is not aware of palliative care, for it was not taught to him in his medical school!

In the rural areas the doctors and hospitals are few and far between. The vast distances and poor transportation facilities prevent these patients from getting medical relief and let us not forget - India still lives in her villages.

All said and done, it is true that Hospice alone is not the answer for advanced cancer patients. It is only one of the modes of rendering palliative care, along with home care, hospital based palliative care units or out patients' centers. All these must go hand in hand and compliment each other for - there is a place for everything and everything in its place!

The common accusation against the hospice is - too much is being spent on too few. But we must also remember, quantity by itself cannot be a virtue, and quality often matters. Though India is described as land of poor - there is no dearth of the rich. If the latter's eyes and heart can be opened to the plight of their unfortunate brethren, I am confident and I speak out of experience - they are only too willing to come forward to help such projects in cash and kind. I am also of the firm belief that such projects should be the collective responsibility of the society - not always expecting the government to do it for us.

And speaking of too few - there is this story of the Starfish.

One little girl was frantically throwing the starfish that were washed ashore back into the sea. When her mother asked what she was doing she replied that she was saving the life of the starfish by putting them back into the sea. Her mother exclaimed, "look, there are thousands of them. By putting back a few how is it going to matter?"

The little girl held the starfish in her hand and said, "it matters to this one" as she gently threw it back into the sea!"

( PS: Dr.Manjula Krishnaswamy is my Younger sister - Rambo )

IITs to get funds only if 50% spent on research

2005-12-29T19:58:00.000-08:00

IITs to get funds only if 50% spent on research
URMI A GOSWAMI
Posted by Kalyanasundaram, IITM 1969
December 9th 2002 9Message 215 )

TIMES NEWS NETWORK[ SUNDAY, DECEMBER 08, 2002 01:00:11 AM ]

NEW DELHI: The government has taken the first step towards introducing a golden mean formula in supporting higher education by linking productivity to performance.

Announcing this the minister for human resource development Dr Murli Manohar Joshi said that in future the Indian Institutes of Technology would receive funds from the HRD ministry only if 50% of these are spent on research projects.

"Innovation is only possible if we invented technologies. Improving on something borrowed from abroad will not serve the same purpose,'' Joshi said.

The state of technical education has been a cause of concern for the government and educational institutes for some time now.

pecifically it was the state of research and development that has been the source of worry. It was felt that while the government was spending money in this sector the returns were not commensurate to the investment.

The department of education recognises that while the government can withdraw from the business of running hotels, it cannot withdraw completely from the field of education. World over providing education remains one of the government's primary responsibility.

Now the government move seeks to evolve a rationale for funding education, especially higher technical education. One that balances budget and responsibility.

The proposed funding pattern is the performance formula based funding. For disbursement of non plan funds, it proposed that weightage be given to the number of students.

There is no reason why an IIT that has not tried to improve on student intake should receive the same amount as an IIT where student intake has gone up.

The idea is not to push IITs on a student recruitment drive, but to ensure that per student expenditure does not fall to a level where efficiency and productivity are affected.

Another factor that will determine productivity is the quality and quntum of post-graduate research. While generic research will also be given weightage, it will be far less than that given to cutting edge work. The proposed weightage for generic research is 5%.

As regards plan funds, that will be decided on the basis of future plans. Another criterion for determining the level of funding, would be the ability of the IIT to generate funds on its own through industry involvement. This would also help promote cutting edge research and development.

At present there are 5108 technical institutes that have been approved by the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE). Each year 7,44,072 students take admission to these institutes.

While the government and AICTE were focusing on improving the quality of education in these institutes, it has urged the AICTE to pay attention to emerging areas such as biotechnology and nanotechnology.

Are IITians Elite & Truly Educated???? By Rambo

2005-12-29T19:42:00.000-08:00

Are IITians Elite & Truly Educated???? By Rambo
8th December 2002 ( Message 214 )

Hi IITians

In the last three days I have sent the flyer for the Charity show to about 32 yahoo eGroups for IIT alumni and have had nil response and no one has even bothered to sign the guest book, leave alone making a committment to send a few bucks. We are supposed to be the "Elite" and the "Best of the Best". If we consider ourselves a true sample of the Indian population (which we are not) you will understand why India will never ever progress or change for the better. The people of the country make a nation, it is the people that are responsible for success or failure of any organisation for that matter

If China is improving the standards of living and business by leaps and bounds it is because of the culture of the people and their committment to succeed. Most reataurant owners start off as an illegal dish washer's. Give him five years, he has his own house and BMW and owns his own restaurant. Once they have made it big they are the most generous lot.

In Sydney we Indians have struggeld for seventeen years to raise funds to build a Venkateswara Temple which is still half finished. Over night there appears a Buddhist temple in Woolongong where millions have been spent. What a beautiful place. It fills your heart with Joy and Peace and above all it is so clean that one could eat off the marble floors. I cannot say this about my temple of worship. Not only that the committee members come to blows at a general body meeting and police are called in and next day they make head lines. We Indians are so divided with our prejudices of race colour and creed. Yet we arm chair pundits sit there and criticise Bill Gates for donating $100 million to fight AIDS in India. We try to find motives behind his generosiity..all this stuff about Linux and open platform or what ever..........

I am not crticising every one but the genral tendency is to spend a life time looking after one self and family. Some may include their friends in the inner circle....

We are happy to just keep our houses clean inside but just as happy to sweep all the dirt on to the street. It is not uncommon to be spat upon from a bus if you are walking on the pavement where you have to step around dead snakes (you know what I mean). Yet the man who spat is educated with a lap top on his lap pretending that he did not do it.....Indians are for ever trying to break rules and bribe any one and every one to get what ever they want from telephones to train tickets.

In the short span of three months I have found a handful of people in the IIT egroups who are committed to improve the lot in India. I did not know them before July this year.

We have members like Ravi Challu, Daljit Dave Singh, Praveer Gupta, Suhas.V, Shyam Raghunandan, Deshpande, Narayanamurthy, Ashok Jhun Jhunwala, Abhay Bhushan, B.K.Syngal, Ram Krishnan, Pradip, Leo Jayaprakash and a few more who are committed to doing something about improving the lot of IITians and Indians in general. The rest just sit and complain..........

These are some of the responses that I have received so far in IIT Global, INTERIIT and IIT-Global-Jobsearch as a moderator, which ares so very heartening that I have saved them under "Quotable Quotes" :

* Hey Unsubscribe me immediately. This is supposed to be a tech group and do not like spam about some charity
* I am not an IITian but am a member of this group. Is this all you elite IITians are capable off....???
* Hey I am going to report you to the right authorities and close you down
* Your group is going to sink under its own weight......
* Your group is illegitimate and does not have approval from authorities
* you are defragmenting other serious efforts to unite IITians
* stop this friday inspiration rubbish. Are you an evangelist ??
* So many IITians are turning off their PC's because of your messages , so please take my advice and close it down
* Ram what are you trying to achieve, just close shop my friend
* hey you are the moderator and should know how to stop SPAM....
* Your Mangalore express story, I am sure you meant Rs 180. You could not have spent Rs 1800.(sad)
* I know you are trying to help us find jobs. But you should realise there are so many useless ads that are not relevent to me. Can you not classify them ???
* I am happy you are sending all these job ads, but they are too many
* and the list goes on.
* I must add out of 1500 members there was just one fellow who took it upon himself to help stop the SPAM to our group. Ravi mate you are a champion too.

Are we not a classy bunch of ELITE IITians ??
I am beginning to detest this word for some reason

I have not had one offer to help the Charity Night, despite it being an all IITIAN effort. There are 1500 hundred members in this Elite group. Do you think these members can donate just $10 each for a worthy cause ??? no no no
Charity is for the white man............

Hey leave alone money, if there was some kindness in your hearts I am sure you could write a few words in the guest book. Is that too much to ask ??

When I go to India, my well to do friends will not hesitate to spend Rs 8000 for drinks and dinner at Taj or Chola or Connemara Hotesl in Madras.....yet the same people when we walk out and I give a poor starved woman with an undernourished baby RS 100 out of my wallet, I get a sermon " You fellows go abroad and come to India for holidays and throw your money around and really spoil these beggars. Beg your pardon?? Did I hear it correct ??? My own batchmates who are supposed to be hosting this show have not come forward to help as foot soldiers....Love to, but tooooo busy and have dead lines to meet....otherwise I surely will

I did not get educated at IIT.......
I learnt some skills for survival perhaps.

My true education came from my mum and dad who taught me the value of life.
My education came from being a Boy scout at School
My education came from St.Bedes High School where I studied moral science
My education came from associating with the poor and the needy.
My true Inner Happiness also comes from the same sources.
My inspiration came from the mosque across from my house where I visited the mullah every saturday morning as a kid
My inspirations came from my visit to the Gurudwara where I went aroud singing "Satyanam satyanam satyanam Ji, Vaya guru vaya guru vaya guruji" May be I just did it for the halva at the end who knows ??
My inspiration comes from Sri RamaKrishna Sai Baba
My strength comes from Lord Hanuman.
I am non descript human being. Telugu chap, born a kalapani, settled in madras, married to a Bengali and now above all an Aussie/Indian at heart

Now here is my chat with an American lady Kristy O'Donnell. I have never met ever. She is some one who has survived a Brain stem stroke and is condemned to a wheel chair for life and cannot even speak properly. Have a look at the compassion in her noble heart. This is what life and living is all about. Now I am sure I will get emails suggesting I stop giving sermons and generalising. Just prove me wrong and that will be fine...... I am trying to raise just $100,000 so help me if you can and I will take back everything I have doled out here..

Please note "LOL" is laughing out Loud and not "Lots of Love" as Indians think it is
(I got into trouble with a friends wife once as she misunderstood me)

Ramboaus: I agree, I am strange that way and I do such crazy things.
Ramboaus: hey did you read about my charity night?
Kristi O'Donnell: no
Kristi O'Donnell: what?
Ramboaus: Oh I posted it to your group. I am hosting a charity show in India along with my class mates of 33 years ago to raise funds for terminally ill cancer patients in India
Kristi O'Donnell: oh that's right duh
Ramboaus: have a read of this
Ramboaus: Subject: URL-Lp-Unplugged Charity
Many friends have written saying thay have had problems opening the Flyer for the Charity show and those with yahoo and hot mail addresses have got all clip art attachments "detached". Thanks for your feed back. The web site for the Charity show is now pretty much ready and is getting updated every day. We will be including lists of all donors however small to say "Thank You". I agree that majority of us are foot soldiers battling for survival. I am not going to ask anyone to dig deep to find anything . I am hoping a large number of people world wide would drop small insignificant amounts like $10. That is all I ask. If you have a bigger wallet and an even bigger heart, do make a generous contribuiton "Little drops make and ocean."
Ramboaus: URL for Charity show:
http://lpunplugged.homestead.com/Index.html
Please spare a few minutes to sign the Guest book
URL for Jeevodaya-Hospice for Terminally ill
http://www.jeevodaya.com
Please do not forget to pass this on to as many people as you can think off.
Kristi O'Donnell: ok will do
Ramboaus: can you please sign my guest book and ask all your friends if they would
consider just donating $ 10 each ?
Ramboaus: look at my creation LP-Unplugged, did that in seven hours....LOL
Kristi O'Donnell: hey i'm going to send this to the "Today Show" here okKristi O'Donnell: Oprah too
Ramboaus: you are a true champ make that two pent houses one for Amanda too LOL
Kristi O'Donnell: and the american cancer society
Kristi O'Donnell: lol
Kristi O'Donnell: ah this is easy stuff
Ramboaus: you are a God send in my life to further my dreams. God bless
Ramboaus: even if every one sends one dollar it will make a big difference
Kristi O'Donnell: we have many large corporations here you can get much $$ from
Kristi O'Donnell: oh yes i know
Ramboaus: I will be eternally grateful to you for your help
Kristi O'Donnell: no problem
Ramboaus: well only you can help
Ramboaus: do you want me to include your name to the organisation committeee?
Kristi O'Donnell: deb and i are both experienced at writing official business letters and i have a fax machine
Kristi O'Donnell: i don't want any recognition
Kristi O'Donnell: just want to help those who need help
Ramboaus: please I would like to include your name in the web site
Kristi O'Donnell: if you wish but don't have to
Ramboaus: just to let sponsors and donors know you are genuine about the cause
Ramboaus: representative North America ?
Kristi O'Donnell: i dunno
Ramboaus: can I include your web site details ?
Kristi O'Donnell: sure
Ramboaus: this will go to thousands of people
Ramboaus: cool, you will see the changes within the hour
Kristi O'Donnell: young strokers need to know something like this does exist
Ramboaus: cool I will do that
Ramboaus: believe me God has set me a task to give you some additional purpose to life so you will snap out of depression
Kristi O'Donnell: if you must my pics are on my group page and my stroke was locked in brainstem at 30 on 12-24-99
Ramboaus: so what makes us come for a chat on messenger today?? divine intervention??. do not get me wrong I am not an evangelist and not even a christian
Kristi O'Donnell: i don't believe in organised religion
Kristi O'Donnell: too hypocritical for me
Ramboaus: nor do I
Ramboaus: last night I went to a muslim friends house for a Ramadan feast
Kristi O'Donnell: i'll send you my story
Kristi O'Donnell: cool
Ramboaus: see we are birds of the same feather
Ramboaus: sorry you are a dove and I am a crow LOL
Kristi O'Donnell: flock together, lol
Kristi O'Donnell: i'm something
Ramboaus: that felt funny the crow bit
Ramboaus: doves are beautiful
Kristi O'Donnell: lol
Kristi O'Donnell: this one can't be caged though
Ramboaus: hey kristi I am starving it is 2.00pm now and all I have had is a coffee since morning. mithu is in Delaware in the snow Bye
Kristi O'Donnell: Bye Hon.

Now folks Kristi is a Brain Damaged stroke victim, condemned to a wheel chair for life. For those of you who read last weeks Friday inspiration, are you a potato or an egg or Coffee. I definitely wish to be coffee, what kind of a person are you ????

Ramboaus

Article by Sandipan Deb Deputy Editor "Outlook"

2005-12-29T19:05:00.000-08:00

Article by Sandipan Deb Deputy Editor "Outlook"
November 28th 2002 ( Message No 189 )

This is supposedly by Sandipan Deb, Deputy Editor of Outlook. He's a B.Tech. from IIT-KGP. Read the article and think about how much of it is true...
....................................................

From: "Avinash Dhoot"
Date: Thu Nov 28, 2002 3:40pm
Subject: Article from the Editor of Outlook
===============================================
Contrary to popular belief, the vast majority of IITians do nothing of note in their lives. Indeed, many of them became IITians because their parents told them that's what they should mug their butts off for, and aim to hit the US of A, so that's what they did. They attended classes, took notes, passed exams, took the GRE, applied to a dozen American universities, and disappeared into that country's vast technological underbelly, to reappear only in the matrimonial columns of Indian papers with a dollar salary multiplied diligently by the day's exchange rate. Or they stayed in India,working at unexceptionable jobs, doing reasonably well. In either case, they got beautiful brides (often from rich families) and presumably lived happily ever after, meeting classmates once a month and chatting about their
IIT days, and how Hippo has just changed jobs, and Zap is three rungs away from the top in Cisco Systems. Each of them had intelligence well above the average, and most, exceptional academic tenacity.

A decade and a half out of IIT, I wonder how many of us IITians achieved our potential? How many went to seed in remote dusty townships, tending massive pipelines and drinking in the township club? How many wilfully walked away from their natural talents in favour of safe MNC jobs selling iapers and hire-purchase
schemes? How many, trained to think rationally and without bias, never managed to figure out the nuances of Indian office politics, and were relegated to obscure corridors in huge buildings? How many, obsessed with the American dream, settled
for second-rate US universities, hung in for a green card, and today work at unfulfilling jobs in Idaho?

There's another angle too to this. How many IITians, determined to stay engineers and in India, ignored the siren songs of the USA and the IIMs, and joined Indian industry, only to find that all the technical designs came from abroad, that you couldn't change them even if you knew they were flawed, that all the engineering you got to do was maintenance, and knowing all that, they either settled into ediocrity, or went off to the US or the iims?

What was my IIT education all about? It was about IITians: 400 academically exceptional boys (and 12 girls) on a campus, which, in the case of Kharagpur,
where I went, was far enough from civilisation to have very interesting effects on our coming of age. Many of us were truly extraordinary. There were boys from village schools who were leagues ahead in knowledge of the urban convent-educated type.
There were those who mugged night and day, or simpered at professors from first benches, and there were those who also had a vibrant and busy life outside academics. I've found that the latter did better in life, even in fields like pure research. I also had friends who never needed to study, they had been apparently
born with engineering wisdom in their genes. There were guys who spent most of the semester in a drug haze, but sobered up a few days before the exams, cracked them, and went back to their pharmaceuticals. Others did not have such control. Like Allen Ginsberg, I too saw some of the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness. A few dropped out (I met one of them years later in Shillong, a stridently devout convert to Catholicism, and a lowly government clerk, but he seemed happy),
a few killed themselves. But, most of us survived. I suppose we became tougher, more mature, more knowing, and more aware of our dark sides.

We lived and ate together, and shared our joys and heartbreaks and good times and bad times, in competition and camaraderie. We compared our philosophies and, bit by stumbling bit, developed our value systems. Never were stronger bonds forged between young people. Years from now, if I meet an IIT wingmate on the road, I know we will carry on as if nothing had changed, and nothing actually would have. A couple of years ago, there was a small visual trick on an Outlook cover, which was my idea.
A close IIT friend, whom I had not been in touch with for years, called up from Singapore: "Some other name is mentioned in the cover credits, but it was your idea, right? I know the way you think." No one knows me better than these mates of mine from IIT.

IIT was also a whole insular world in itself,complex and complete, and it sucked us in. As The Chosen, we lived a full life with no necessity of any contact with the outside world. Totally cut off from politics and "the bigger issues", our delights remained in competing fiercely on the field or the stage with other hostels or other colleges. There were few material pleasures. Lifestyles were spartan, the food abysmal. The vast majority of males were totally deprived of female company. The girls lived a strange life-on the one hand, they were hounded by dozens of would-be suitors; on the other, they faced the petulant hostility of the majority which saw them as undeserving of so much adulation and so many free lunches.

When we graduated, we went out into the world with a rare confidence and strong tribal loyalties. The confidence eroded a bit over the years, and we learnt some humility when we discovered non-IITians as smart as we were, and also people who could outwit us because they were intelligent in a different way-in a sly political way-an acumen we had not developed in our isolated environment which, above all, inculcated a sense of fairness and a respect for ability. We came to terms with a world that compared poorly with our beloved campus, and some of us even went ahead and conquered it. Others didn't do well, but knew that the ties between them and the masters-of-the-universe classmates would never change. They were ties born of the pride of being an IITian.

That pride would never diminish.
It never can.

NEO-ECONOMICS: SAVINGS AS SIN, SPENDING AS VIRTUE

2005-12-29T18:58:00.000-08:00

NEO-ECONOMICS: SAVINGS AS SIN, SPENDING AS VIRTUE
Posted by Rakesh Vajpai
November 27th 2002 ( Message 185 )

Japanese save a lot. They do not spend much. Also Japan exports far more than it imports. Has an annual trade surplus of over $100 billions, that is Rs.5 lakh crores. Yet Japanese economy is considered weak, even collapsing.

Americans spend, save little. Also US imports more than it exports. Has an annual trade deficit of over $400 billion, that is over Rs. 20 lakh crores. Yet, the American economy is considered strong and trusted to get stronger. Indeed a contrast.

But where from do Americans get money to spend? They borrow from Japan, China and even India. Virtually others save for US to spend. Global savings are mostly invested in US, in dollars. India itself keeps its foreign currency assets of over $50 billions in US securities. China has sunk over $160 billion in US securities.
Japan's stakes in US securities is in trillions.

Result. The US has taken over $5 trillion from the world. Want to know it in rupees? Rs. 2,50,000 crore crores! So, as the world saves for US, Americans spend freely. Today, to keep the US consumption going, that is for the US economy to work, other countries have to remit $180 billion every quarter, that is $2 billion a day, to the
US! Otherwise the US economy would go for a six. So will the global economy. The result will be no different if US consumers begin consuming less. A Chinese economist asked a neat question. Who has invested more, US in China, or China in US?

The US has invested in China less than half of what China has invested in US. The same is the case with us. We have invested in US over $50 billion.

But the US has invested less than $20 billion in India.

Why the world is after US? The secret lies in the American spend, in that they hardly save. In fact they use their credit cards to spend their future income. That the US spends is what makes it attractive to export to the US.

So, US imports more than what it exports year after year. The result. The world is dependent on US consumption for its growth. By its deepening culture of consumption, the US has habituated the world to feed on US consumption. But as the US needs money to finance its consumption, the world provides the money. It's like a shopkeeper providing the money to a customer so that the customer keeps buying from the shop. The customer will not buy, the shop won't have business, unless the shopkeeper funds him.

The US is like the lucky customer.

And the world is like the helpless shopkeeper financier. Who is America's biggest shopkeeper financier? Japan. Yet it is Japan which is regarded as weak. Modern economists complain that Japanese do not spend, so they do not grow. To force the Japanese to spend, the Japanese government exerted itself. Reduced the savings rates, even charged the savers. Even then the Japanese did not spend. Their traditional postal savings alone is over $1.2 billion that is. Rs.60 lakh crores, about three times the GDP of India. Thus, savings, far from being the strength of Japan, has become its pain.

What is the lesson? That is, a nation cannot grow unless the people spend, not save. Not just spend, but borrow and spend. Dr.Jagdish Bhagwati, the famous Indian-born economist in the US, told Dr. Manmohan Singh that Indians wastefully save. Ask them to spend, he said. On imported cars and, seriously, even on cosmetics! This, he counselled, will put India on a growth curve. But like Japanese we too are not obliging. Modernists may not, but one who has read the Mahabharatha will, know. A Rishi by name Charuvaka gave the same advice when Pandavas were around, which modern
economists are giving today. He told the people to spend and be happy, if need be by borrowing. No need to repay, if you cannot, he counselled. No sin would attach, he assured. Fortunately his advice was rejected by us thousands of years back. That is why perhaps we are alive as a nation. Our old companions are in archives today. Now we have the very same advice. That is saving as sin, and spending as virtue.

This is central to neo-economics. Caution. Before you follow these neo-Charuvakas, get some fools to save so that you can borrow from them and spend, after you exhaust your savings. This is what US has successfully done in last two decades.

Going Abroad Vs. Staying in India! By Ramkumar IITM M Tech

2005-12-29T18:51:00.000-08:00

Going Abroad Vs. Staying in India! By Ramkumar IITM M Tech
25th November 2002 ( Message 181 )

This passionate letter from Ram Kumar reminds me of Raj Kapoor singing
"AAh Aab Lout ke Chaley" in "Jhis Desh Mein Ganga Behti Hai".

Ramboaus
Moderator
"Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani Doston"
.........................................

Going Abroad Vs. Staying in India!

In the seventies and eighties, going abroad was a very attractive option for IITians. The reasons were evident-it was very easy to get aid; there were good prospects for employment and, most importantly, there was job satisfaction. Indian industry was conservative, salaries were low and jobs were few. What has happened in the nineties? The US has been hit by recession. People who finish their M.S. face unemployment and are forced to choose between a programmer's job and doing a Ph.D, a five-year commitment at the end of which you can't even be sure of a teaching job (A typical Ad. for Asst. Professor's job attracts 350 applicants from Ph.D. holders).

So ask yourselves: ' What do you want to be in life?... Five years hence..., Ten years hence,.... and in your mid-forties... If you have romantic ideas of becoming a researcher, I have this to point out, In thirty years of 'manpower export' to the US,
I am yet to hear of a single IITian stud in any field of engineering. WHY? Every IITian who goes to the US discovers, sooner or later ,that one cannot progress in an organisation beyond a stage without an MBA . One discovers that there is more
money in Wall Street than in Silicon Valley.

And so, the tragic ending to the story is that many a brilliant brain has been lost to lure of the lucre. If money is what ultimately matters you can get it by going to the IIMs (multinationals pay salaries in lakhs) or to software jobs (dumb thing to do but, at least, you make a lot of money and escape gheraos and sweat and toil in the factories for a pittance of a salary). Exceptions exist for a few branches of specialization. Consult your friends in the US for more information on these.
For a majority of specializations, what has been said is the bitter truth.

Finally the question that comes to the mind is-' Who should go abroad?' If you are seriously committed to hi-funda research then, depending on your field, you may still have opportunities. A warning: Do not fall for these fields, which, dole out aids by the dozen. It is quite possible that you are being lured because the Native American is too smart to step into a potential career doom.

Another question that needs to be answered is: 'What has changed in India?' Economic liberalization, competitive business, growing awareness of the need to be competitive at a global level, growing importance of manufacturing management (many consulting firms are picking up Engineer-MBA's for such jobs) and higher
salaries for jobs are just a few facets in which India is changing. A typical 21-year-old IITian simply cannot visualise life in the mid-forties. I hear that people want to return to India, particularly if they have teenaged daughters - that is
when the difference in culture and values hits you. You will not understand unless you actually talk to people in this age group.

So think..., think beyond the immediate goals of affluence, hi-tech life, spicy surroundings, instant telephone connections, multi channel televisions... think beyond affluent universities, hi-funda facilities, dream world libraries and hi-tech research. At 45, you cannot,or rather, should not feel empty even after you
get all this. Nobody tells you that there is a glass ceiling beyond which you cannot rise in your profession. Nobody tells you that the choice is often between second-class citizenship,first class standard of living in the USA and first class
citizenship, second-class standard of living in India. Nobody tells you that it feels awfully lonely out there or that many of them feel within months of reaching here that the massive investment of time and money on 'apping' was perhaps not worth
it.

Do you now that much of teaching in the US universities is done by graduate teaching assistants and by Ph.D. students and not by the Profs.? Do you know that a few research supervisors may even stoop to the extent of publishing your research work in their name with your name deleted? Remember, you need a certain level of maturity to think of your priorities-not in today's context but in the context of two decades hence.

Remember your mom and dad are desperate to send you abroad because they belong to a society which thinks that anything from the land of the white man must be superior. Remember you do not have to go abroad simply because your friends did so, your cousins did so or because your parents want you to do so.

Go, if the dirt and squalor of India repels you, Go, if you want to do nothing about it, Go, if the corruption and politics make you puke, And if you do not want to become another T.N.Seshan Go, if you think your future is doomed because of the reservation policy in the country, turning a blind eye to the fact that no
upper middle class kid is doing menial labour.

TAIL PIECE: Go to the US if you are despo. Xerox this article, seal it in a cover and take it with you. Open it on Jan 1st 2006 and send us your feedback.

ALL THE BEST !!

Ramkumar. R, M.Tech (Civil)
room no 335
Krishna Hostel
IIT Madras - 600 036
Ph: 044-257 8909, 257 9079

...................................................

Abhay K. Bhushan- Distinguished Alumni From Kanpur IIT

2005-12-29T18:47:00.000-08:00

Abhay K. Bhushan- Distinguished Alumni From Kanpur IIT
23rd November 2002 ( Message 174 )

Dear Members,
It was indeed a pleasure to touch base with Bhushan Dada just yesterday. He is from the very First Batch of IIT-Kanpur and graduated with a B.Tech Degree in Electronics Engineering in 1965.

It is unimaginable that I made contact with "THE GURU" of Internet and Fire wall Protocol. Dada welcome to IIT-Global adventure.

Reproduced below is an article from Hindustan Times.

Ramboaus
Moderator
.......................................

Modern-day mail man

The pioneer of the E-mail and the File Transfer Protocol, Abhay Bhushan is least tainted by the fame his accomplishments have heaped on him. Himanshu Manglik traces the growth and evolution of this modest entrepreneur Abhay Bhushan.

He just keeps defying straight-jacketing. I have been trying to figure out how to slot him into a mould but its funny how some things just sort of keep eluding you. He parented the e-mail system and the File Transfer Protocol which are in a way the forerunners of the internet.

In the book "Where wizards stay up late. The origin of the Internet'' they talk of him as one of the pioneers.

Graduating in 1965 from IIT Kanpur, he went on to study at MIT for a Masters degree in electrical engineering and an MBA from the Sloan School Of Management. That was when he got involved with path-breaking work, as Chairman of the working group, giving life to the e-mail and the File Transfer Protocol. Abhay feels "perhaps the most significant turning point of my career was when the network was started in 1969... ARP Anet... I just happened to be there at MIT, interested in computers and communications... And they wanted to tie all the university computers together and start a new way of communicating.''

Modest like most people working on inventions or breakthroughs, he did not realise the real significance of what they were creating, "when we first started there was no such thing as computer networks and computer communications... everything was in the stage of infancy and no one had any idea, including myself, that some day it would become the internet and that you could tie all the world's information systems together.''

He may not have realised the awesome implications of his work then, but it was an exciting time he says. "Even at that point in time I had a bias for doing something that would be applicable and we were building the first network. The e-mail and the FTP had its roots there. Almost 10-15 years later it branched and flowered into the internet.'' But at that point the pioneering work that he had done was of little help to him as "no one in the industry had even heard of computer networks except in the research centers.'' When he did move on from MIT, he started working with Xerox Corporation in the USA, in the traditional roles of the corporate family. He did well, but his heart was really into broader issues.

He took a year off on sabbatical from Xerox, and came back to spend a year, with his family, working in the villages in India. He believed that if he was to contribute to his vision of India, then he needed to understand the issues that emanated from the 70-75 per cent population that lived in the villages. "I wanted to see what I could do to make a difference to the lives of the poorest people.'' It reinforced his belief in the model of social and ecological interdependence and consequent responsibilities. That he feels may have been the second turning point in his career.

"Environment is the most important, long term issue facing not only India or America...it's for all of us. We must realise that we are cells in the whole body of life and the whole body of the planet. If one is getting rich at the expense of the other species or if humanity is taking more and more and more at the expense of everything else, it doesn't help humanity. Like cancer, the body would either eject the cancer or the cancer would destroy the body.'' Coming back to Xerox after his sabbatical he continued with the traditional role playing of the corporate being. But the process of inner evolution had started. "I think in the corporate sector it is the same interdependence between industries, especially in the same sector. Competition is just a way to get excellent, to define that we are all moving forward with excellence. I believe that Darwin was somewhat inaccurate in his theory of evolution, about the survival of the fittest. There is competition in nature, but there is far more cooperation.''

"Some of us worked to change the premise that environment was anti-business into an understanding that business and environment go together. When we help environment we also help business. I am proud that when I was at Xerox... the Xerox factory at Rampur was always number 1 in waste reduction.'' Abhay Bhushan just met them to give them an award for the best recycling and waste reduction site worldwide at Xerox "it's outstanding and I felt so happy that India was taking the lead.''

He has a very successful entrepreneurial side too. Abhay's company, co-founded by him just a few years ago is already listed on the NASDAQ in the USA. Another company that he had established-Portola Communications - was bought over by Netscape for the value that it provided for them. For most people this would have been time to take it easy.

But not for him. His lifestyle reflects how the emotional side in him dominates and why he is so passionate about the environmental issues and why he still has his dreams and visions. "I have personally cycled to work for at least 60 per cent of the days in the past 12 years. First it was 21/2 miles, then it was 5 miles, then my office moved to a location that was 9 miles, but I still continued to cycle to work. I was bicycling because I thought that this is the right way to be, and because it's fundamentally a better way.''

After more than three decades in the US, it is unlikely that Abhay will come back to India. He candidly admits. "I am happy there but I miss India, because my roots are here. But I draw a lot of inspiration, a lot of guidance from these roots. They are sustaining. However, my branches are in the United States, including my children, my family and my other extended family.'' He believes that like him there are many other NRIs who want to contribute to the Indian society, where their roots are. "The Indian community there has matured. These people have been there for 25-30 years and have essentially settled and made it good. Many of them are now looking at a kind of a commitment to India, whether through entrepreneurship or by giving money to NGOs.''

He too would like to do more. though he is already quite active in his concern for India. 'Indians for collective action', 'Funds for rapid advancement of India', 'India literacy projects' are some of the organisations that he is directly involved with. While airing his concern for India, he, however, does not perceive America as a materialistic-capitalist state but a value based society. He loves to quote from Kennedy's inaugural speech in 1961 'if free society cannot help the many who are poor then it cannot save the many who are rich'.

His observation is that America has achieved a good combination of socialism and capitalism. He is candid in his analysis. "Though they do not say so, the fact is that schooling is free, books are given, there is social security for aged people, there is medi-care irrespective of whether you are poor or rich. So the state is taking care of you and that is socialism. It is also capitalist and there is free enterprise. America is a sort of combination.''

He credits his personal development to a few people. "Gandhi has been a very important role model for me, from what I have heard about him, from what I have read about him, from what he has written. I don't mean Gandhi as he was in the 1930s or 1940s. I see Gandhi as he would be in the present day circumstance, because Gandhi was a very adaptable, strategic, tactical person. If you ask me, when Gandhi was talking about decentralisation and cottage industry, I think he would have liked the microchip because that allows things to be decentralised with the computer, so that everyone has the world's information resources at his fingertips like what the internet does.''

siliconindia- IITians excel again

2005-12-29T18:43:00.000-08:00

siliconindia- IITians excel again
23rd november 2003 ( message 171 )

From Raju Jairam
B.Tech 1970
IIT Madras.
.........................................
Raju thanks for forwarding this news item. very interesting indeed.
Kudos to our IIT Kanpur Team for the leading edge Technology

Ramboaus
Moderator
....................

Indian scientists develop electronic anaesthesia monitorIANS
Friday, November 22, 2002

LUCKNOW: For surgeons constantly anxious over the precise administration of anaesthesia comes good news from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT).

A team working at IIT Kanpur's electrical engineering department has devised an electronic anaesthesia monitor that promises to be a boon for both doctors and patients.

"This new gadget could enable one to keep track of the exact levels of consciousness, muscle relaxation and the overall anaesthetic effect on the recipient," said G.C. Ray, a senior biomedical scientist in the electrical engineering department.

Ray devised the monitor along with Poornima Sengupta from IIT Kharagpur and Gautam Das, a Kolkata-based anaesthetist.

"The instrument is ready for practical use, but we would not like to venture into its marketing until it has been tried on patients over a sustained period," Ray told IANS on the telephone.

Asked how much time it would take for the monitor to hit the market, he said: "Perhaps a year because we would want 100 percent accuracy."

Ray claimed it would be well within reach of most patients as it was likely to cost about Rs.25,000.

"The computer-linked monitoring instrument would be connected to the patient's body during a course of surgery and would instantly display the exact level of consciousness, relaxation and even pain experienced by the patient with the administration of the anaesthetic dose," he said.

Ray, who has been working on the genesis of consciousness for several years, said ancient scriptures like the Upanishads inspired him.

"What really inspired me were the writings of Sri Ram Krishna Paramhans (a saint) who threw new light on the state of body and mind during 'samadhi' (meditation), as detailed in the Hindu scriptures," the scientist said.

But what prompted him to delve deeper and develop a gadget of this kind was his personal experience as a patient in a Kolkata hospital.

"About 15 months ago, while I was admitted in a Kolkata hospital to undergo surgery, it was the attending anaesthetist Gautam Das who have me the idea to attempt developing a gadget that could precisely quantify and tell you the exact effect of a particular dose of anaesthesia," Ray said.

"Das pointed out that the effect of anaesthesia varied with the same dose on different patients, essentially because of their varying mental attitudes. For instance, I was told that a patient who was by nature a coward required a much smaller dose of anaesthesia than a brave person," said Ray.

"Now the electronic anaesthesia monitor would make it possible to ensure only the required amount of anaesthetic dose is administered to a particular patient."

Warren Buffett Says There’s More To Success than Wealth

2005-12-29T18:37:00.000-08:00

Buffett Says There’s More To Success than Wealth
19th November 2002 ( message 155 )

Hi folks!!
Recently I came across an article on Berkshire Hathaway Chairman and CEO Warren Buffett's speech to MBA Students in a leading School in USA on 'Success and Ethics in Business World' - which runs somewhat as below .
P.Jayaseelan

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Friday, November 15, 2002

Warren Buffett Says There’s More To Success than Wealth
By Tim Sullivan
Hoya Staff Writer

Chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway Warren Buffett advised a student audience in Gaston Hall Thursday afternoon on success and ethics in the business world.

Chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway Warren Buffett advised a student audience in Gaston Hall Thursday afternoon on success and ethics in the business world.

Thirty-five billion dollars in personal net worth took the stage in Gaston Hall yesterday and told Georgetown’s MBA students that money is not the only way to measure success. “You can forget any formula I tell you about stocks,” Berkshire Hathaway Chairman and CEO Warren Buffett said. “You will be a successful person if your kids, your spouse, your grandchildren … respect you.”

Buffett, 72, said that he has long-term confidence in the American economy. “America is a sensational field on which to be playing.” He also said that investing decisions should be made based on the long-term prospects of the company, not the short-term prospects of the stock market. “I never made any money thinking about the economy,” he said.

“I’m looking for answers to business questions, not market questions,” he said, adding that a test of whether an investment is good or not is whether an investor would want to hold a stock if the market closed for three years.

Buffett opened his remarks to an MBA student-only crowd of approximately 400 people by saying that he would “offer one tiny bit of advice and then shut up about it” before opening the floor to questions from the audience.

Berkshire Hathaway, the company Buffett runs, is comprised of numerous subsidiaries, including well-known companies like Dairy Queen, Benjamin Moore, GEICO Insurance and Fruit of the Loom. It is currently listed at No. 39 on the Fortune 500 list of the largest American companies.

Buffett is considered by many financial observers to be one of the most important figures in the American economy, and he has been compared to the chairman of the Federal Reserve and the president of the United States in his influence on securities markets.

In his remarks, Buffett emphasized the principles of long-term investment. “The important thing is to keep playing, to play against weak opponents and to play for big stakes,” he said.

He also stressed that he only purchases businesses he understands, and then only if they have what he called “a durable competitive advantage” and are run by people he trusts. “I don’t work with people I don’t like,” he said.

Buffett said that he does not follow market trends, and that his strategy is not to have a strategy at all. “Not only do we not have a strategic department [at Berkshire], we don’t have a strategy,” he said. He also noted that Berkshire does not employ an economist, “and if we buy a business that has one, he’s gone.”

When asked what qualities he looks for when hiring, he said he seeks candidates with intelligence, energy and character, but that character is the most important.

Buffett also addressed several issues related to the recent corporate corruption scandals at firms such as Enron, WorldCom, Tyco, Arthur Andersen and Adelphia. “I think a lot of decent people slipped,” Buffett said. He said that the best source of guidance on issues of ethics is the Bible. “The best advice on corporate governance is in Luke 16:2,” Buffett said. Chapter 16, verse two of Luke is a parable in which a landlord asks his manager to “give an account of thy stewardship, for though mayest be no longer steward.”

Buffett said that he tells his employees to follow the “front-page test” when faced with ethical dilemmas. If employees wouldn’t want to see their action on the front page of the local newspaper, they shouldn’t take that action, Buffett said.

Buffett also restated his belief that corporate options should be accounted for as expenses, a position that gained him notoriety this summer amid criticisms of modern accounting practices. “If a payment to an employee isn’t compensation, what is it? And if compensation isn’t an expense, what is it? And if the expenses don’t belong on the income statement, where do they belong?” he asked. Only two Fortune 500 companies currently consider stock options expenses.

Asked if he would change anything in his life, the multi-billionaire said that he “wouldn’t change anything, except to be a lot younger.” Noting that he was born in America to two intelligent parents, Buffett said “I won the ovarian lottery.”

He said he went into business because he only had two interests when he was growing up, “but I wasn’t very good with girls, so I had to move on to my second interest.”

Over the last five years, Berkshire Hathaway has posted average earnings per share of approximately $1,500. The company’s assets are valued at more than $162 billion, with a market capitalization of more than $112 billion

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IIT Global Job Search Group - Biggest & the Best

2005-12-29T18:29:00.000-08:00

IIT Global Job Search Group - Biggest & the Best
14th November 2002 ( Message 138 )

Ajit
Thanks for the note of appreciation. Give us twelve months and we will prove to the world that IIT-Jobs group be the only place for Prospectivve employers and
recruiters to find the top IIT-Engineers to work anywhere in the world......

We aim to be the "BIGGEST and the BEST", so "Help Us Help You"

IIT-Global members who are not aware of this new initiative to help IIT Alumni find suitable jobs and can help by posting job opportunities in your organisations anywhere in the world.

We currently have over 775 IIT Graduates subscribed and actively looking for work.

Ramboaus
Moderator
..........................................

From: "Ajit Tripathi"
To: "ravichallu"
Sent: Wednesday, November 13, 2002 11:55 PM
Subject: alumni-faculty collaboration for currentstudents

Please fwd to anyone who'd be interested in it... in any other form or words, at any appropriate time.
-------------------------------------------------------------->

An IITian is defined as a person who believes in getting things done. This is a tremendous networking initiative and there is no reason why a negative feeling or thought should be allowed to dampen the enthusiasm of those who have taken leadership in this matter. Great work Ravi ji and Ramboaus ji. Such an initiative
has long been awaited. (IIT-Jobs-in-India)

I feel the senior alumni should also work with IIT kanpur professors on being less hesitant about recommending their students to US universities.

Unlike IIT Madras, IIT Kanpur does not have a healthy collaborative app culture and that this is largely due to the general unwillingness on part of the faculty to work with students or write unreserved recommendations.

As a result, Kanpur has an abysmal schol rate and mostly, it is the top students who suffer and have to live with lesser schools. The rest of get diverted to other fields.

Comparatively, students from Osmania University, Bombay University, RECs and other much less competitive schools are having a much easier shot at the best schools.

Now are these students better students than average IITians? Do they have a better shot at research? I do not think the IITK faculty believes that. It is just that recommendations are much harder to come by and a collaborative culture is not in
place in IITK.

It affects research and it affects the reputation of the institute. IITK students have clearly done very well in academia so far and it can be better.

If the senior alumni is willing to work with the faculty on this issue, I am sure it can benefit the students as well as the future faculty of the Institute.

regds,
Ajit

Another Kanpur IITian - Jitendra Excels

2005-12-29T17:13:00.000-08:00

Another Kanpur IITian Excels
14th November ( Message 137 )

Thanks Satyajit,for sharing this fantastic news . I always feel elated when I read about such success stories and international recognition coming to IITians.

Jitendra Malik conferred with Leadership Award for Academics "Malik received the B.Tech degree in Electrical Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur in 1980 and the PhD degree in Computer Science from Stanford University in 1985."

Congrats Jitendra, You are a Champion.

Ramboaus
Moderator
...................................

http://www.siliconindia.com/shownewsdata.asp?newsno=17554&newscat=Technology

Jitendra Malik conferred with Leadership Award for Academics
siliconindia News Bureau

Wednesday, November 13, 2002

Arthur J. Chick Professor of EECS and Associate Chair for Computer Science Division in the University of California at Berkeley, Jitendra Malik has been named as the recipient of the siliconindia Leadership Award for Academics, 2002.

FREMONT:

Malik will be presented the award at the dinner banquet following the siliconindia Annual Conference at The Westin Hotel, Santa Clara on November 16.

Jitendra Malik’s research interests are in computer vision and computational modeling of human vision. His work spans a range of topics in vision including image segmentation and grouping, texture, stereopsis and object recognition. His research has found applications in image based modeling and rendering, content based image querying, and intelligent vehicle highway systems. He has authored or co-authored more than 90 research papers on these topics.

Malik received the B.Tech degree in Electrical Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur in 1980 and the PhD degree in Computer Science from Stanford University in 1985. In January 1986, he joined the faculty of the Computer Science
Division, Department of EECS, University of California at Berkeley, where he is currently a Professor. He is a member of the Cognitive Science and Vision Science groups at UC Berkeley.

He received the gold medal for the best graduating student in Electrical Engineering from IIT Kanpur in 1980, a Presidential Young Investigator Award in 1989, and the Rosenbaum fellowship for the Computer Vision Programme at the Newton Institute of
Mathematical Sciences, University of Cambridge in 1993. He received the Diane S. McEntyre Award for Excellence in Teaching from the Computer Science Division, University of California at Berkeley, in 2000. He is the Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Computer Vision.

Prof. Ashok Jhunjhunwala, head of the dept. of Electrical Engineering at IIT Madras was last year's recipient of the Leadership award for Academics.

FACE THE AIDS CHALLENGE TO MAKE INDIA A SUPERPOWER

2005-12-29T17:03:00.000-08:00

FACE THE AIDS CHALLENGE TO MAKE INDIA A SUPERPOWER
November 12th 2002 ( Message 133)

Reproduced below is an article by "Bill Gates", that appeared in Asian Age today.

Till a few years ago, I used to work for an Indian pharmaceutical companies that marketed HIV detection kits. If was frustrating to see the lack of awareness and efforts to stem the problem. Things have gone from bad to worse over these years. If you want a realistic estimate of the affected population, multiply the 'official' numbers mentioned in the article below by 2. Further, multiply this number by at least 4 to estimate the number of family members who would be going through the trauma (not to speak of transimssion of the disease itself).

Organisations such as NACO and many others have done a lot over the past few years ... companies like Cipla have contributed by making the drugs available at affordable prices (patent related controversies notwithstanding)... yet a lot needs to be done...and it needs to be done before it is too late.

Regards,
Rakesh
..................................

FACE THE AIDS CHALLENGE TO MAKE INDIA A SUPERPOWER

India is well on its way to becoming a global superpower. Its economy has significantly outpaced much of Asia in recent years, its internationally competitive information technology and pharmaceutical industries are projected to grow dramatically this decade, and the country's purchasing power is the fourth largest
in the world after United States, China and Japan.

But much of this progress will be threatened by AIDS. India already has atleast 4 million people living with HIV and the United States National Intelligence Council predicts that the number of people infected in India could jump to between
20 million and 25 million by 2010.

There is still time, however, to prevent a widespread AIDS epidemic in India. HIV infection rates are low - less than 1 percent of the adult population is infected. Having failed to prevent enormous human suffering already experienced in
Africa, the international community has an opportunity to support India's efforts to stem its AIDS crisis before it is too late.

The humanitarian imperative for action is undeniable. But there are other reasons for west to be concerened about India's future. It is the world's largest democracy and a crucial ally in an unstable region. With one of the largest scientific and technical workforce, it is also an important business partner for many countries.

India's leaders are well aware of the risks AIDS poses - they are begining to speak out, breaking powerful and long-standing taboos about discussing sex, drug abuse and this disease. The prevention efforts being made here are already starting to
show measurable results. In fact, with its vast human resources and burgeoning pharmaceutical industry, India may be best positioned to contain the epidemic and offer global leadership in confronting AIDS. By vigorously pursuing HIV prevention, and by marshalling its impressive scientific research sector to develop vaccines, microbicides and treatments that could help stop the epidemic worldwide, India can make a significant contribution well beyond its borders.

Over the years, I have developed close professional and personal ties to India. India's rapidly growing software sector has made the country a critical partner to many American companies, including Microsoft. India's teachers, scientists and business professionals are laying the foundations doe extraordinary economic and social change that would be threatened by AIDS.

Much more needs to be done now to reach the populations that fuel the spread of the disease in India. For example, mobile populations - truckers, soldiers and migrant labourers- have HIV rates upto 10 times greater than the national average and serve as a bridge from high risk groups to the general population. Other nations
- including senegal, Thailand and Brazil have demonstrated that HIV can be reduced, sometimes substantially, through programs that reach those most at risk.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is in India to make a long-term commitment to Indian partners for a major new prevention initiative aimed at mobile populations. The initiative will focus on proven prevention strategies such as voluntary
counselling and testing, condom distribution, and treatment of sexually transmitted diseases as well as public education programs to reduce the fear and stigma of AIDS alone. Wealthy nations, businesses and philanthropic world must contribute to efforts
to contain India's AIDS crisis before it expands. Far greater resources and expertise must be devoted to prevention programs, training healthcare workers and supporting research into new medical advancements.

We know how to prevent the spread of HIV and AIDS. The choice now is clear and stark:

India can either be the home of the world's largest democracy and the most devastating AIDS epidemic - or, with the support of rest of the world, it can become the best example of how aids virus can be defeated.

Hole in The Wall- Posted by Rajendran IITM 1970

2005-12-29T16:52:00.000-08:00

Hole in The Wall- Posted by Rajendran IITM 1970
Posted 12th November 2002 ( Message 131 )

Rajendran,

Thanks for posting this inspirational article. People like Sugata Mitra of NIIT & Ashok JhunJhunWala of TeNet & nLogue fame are "one of a kind". Way ahead of their times considering that most of us may consider their goals unrealistic.

Mitra speculates that if the problem of "information poverty" is addressed instead --by providing poor people with access to information they need and can use -- then the poor " might just figure out how to solve the problem of material poverty by
themselves."

I can well and truly realate to this school of thought as I come from a large family of seven supported by my dad's single income. As a government servant in Andamans, he did not earn much. I remember dad got my six sisters and myself together one day and said look,I will never be able to buy a house nor will I ever have enough money to pay dowries for your weddings or leave enough fortune for you all to share. So I am going to give you the best wealth possible. A "Good Solid Education" in the best schools so you can all stand on your own feet. Which he did. He paid through
his nose to send us to Rasary Matric and St.Bedes in Madras.

As children we did not let our parents down. I went to Madras IIT, three of my sisters became doctors, a Nephrologist, an Anaesthetist and a General Surgeon. My second sister worked hard an supported us all our lives and retired as a Professor of Zoology and my youngest sister became an Architect and designed the outstanding
Gulf Air building in Bahrain. We all excelled and got scholarships at school to reduce the burden on our parents. Our Dad was very special to have this vision.My only regret is that He wanted a family of doctors and I disappointed him to some extent by becoming an engineer.

India needs thousands of dreamer's like Sugata and Ashok and let us hope we have atleast one hundred in this IIT-Global group.

Cheers

Ramboaus
Moderator.
...............................................
Rambo,
Here is the link to the details of the "Hole in the Wall" project undertaken by Dr. Sugath Mitra. The project shows the swiftness with which children, including those in slums, can learn totally new things as long as their interests are kindled.

http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/stories/india/connection.html

Rajendran
B.Tech 1970
IIT-Madras
..............................................

Journalist and filmmaker Rory O'Connor, producer of the FRONTLINE/World segment "The Hole in the Wall," went to New Delhi to report on an experiment that turned into a project that sends slum kids into cyberspace. Read his notes, exclusive to
FRONTLINE/World's Web site.

I arrive in New Delhi just a few days ahead of the annual monsoon. A thick, dark, gray mass of humidity and toxic pollutants masks not only the sun, but the entire sky. The heat practically singes my eyebrows whenever I go outside -- it's 48 degrees Celsius to be precise, which translates to a nearly unbelievable 118 degrees
Fahrenheit.

I've just spent several sweltering weeks shooting a film on poverty in the north eastern state of Bihar. A third of India's population -- 350 million people -- exist on an income of one dollar per day per family, and tens of millions of them reside in Bihar, the poorest of all India's states.

But here in the capital, India's economic contradictions loom even larger. Unlike in Bihar, the abject poverty here exists amidst the most modern plenitude -- gleaming office towers, five-star hotels, a sizable middle class and some of the world's most advanced high-tech firms.

One of those high-tech success stories is NIIT, a computer software and training company with offices in dozens of countries and annual sales of nearly $300 million. In an arrangement that is apparently fairly common in Delhi, NIIT's corporate offices are located next to a fetid slum, where people live in what can only charitably be called shacks, with little access to sanitation and health care.
A high, thick boundary wall separates the two worlds. It's the wall -- or more precisely, what's inside it -- that has brought me to NIIT.

I'm here to see the firm's head of Research and Development, a round, affable and highly articulate man named Sugata Mitra, whom I first met two years ago. Although a physicist by training, Mitra has specialized for more than a decade in the areas of
cognition and consciousness, delving into the mysteries of how people, particularly children, learn.

Mitra has some provocative ideas on the connection between learning and poverty. "Poverty has two different definitions," he tells me. "Poverty of information is one kind of poverty; poverty of materials is another kind of poverty. The same method may not apply to solve the two problems."

Mitra observes that the developed world has spent billions of dollars over decades trying to solve the problem of "material poverty" with little success. He speculates that if the problem of "information poverty" is addressed instead -- by providing poor people with access to information they need and can use -- then the poor "might just figure out how to solve the problem of material poverty by themselves." Mitra, of course, doesn't claim he has the solution to world poverty, but he's fascinated by figuring out how he can help poor people, particularly kids, become information-rich. And when he starts to describe his first attempts to help slum dwellers access information, he grabs my attention.

In 1999, with little fanfare, Mitra had launched an experiment that soon began to make waves within the community of people concerned with the so-called digital divide. He tells me it started when he played a bit of a trick on his employer.

"In 1988, I had written a very short paper to say that may be children are capable of learning a whole bunch of things on their own, and specifically, perhaps computers," Mitra explains. "I got taken with my idea. But nobody else did." He bided his time.

Eleven years later, NIIT executives expressed an interest in researching the uses of public kiosks stocked with computers. Street kiosks -- where passersby could access computer terminals for a fee, along the model of public telephones -- were considered
a promising business opportunity. "It had nothing to do with children," Mitra says, with a grin characteristic of a Cheshire cat. "It was because kiosks were expected to become big business. Since I was heading R&D, I got the job to see how to build a kiosk."

Mitra asked if he could have some money to build a kiosk that could stand outside in the open. When Mitra got the go-ahead from his employer, he realized that he had an opportunity to try the idea he had proposed more than a decade earlier: to offer a computer out in the open to children who had never seen one before.

Like many great ideas, Mitra's was essentially simple. He cut a hole in the boundary wall separating NIIT from the adjacent slum, put a high-speed computer connected to the Internet in the hole, and turned it on.

To his amazement, the local slum children were browsing the Internet within hours. "It was a spiral of self-instruction, if I can put it that way," he recalls. "One child makes an accidental discovery. Three children come and repeat that, saying, 'Oh, that's cool.'If three children repeat the same things, they make three other accidental discoveries. And it goes on and on and on like that, so
that within the end of two weeks, they've got about as much instruction in their heads as they would have got in a classroom."

Since then, Mitra has been busy installing more and more computers in public kiosks for children to use. Sometimes they are placed in urban settings like the original; others have been built in small towns or rural villages. Each time the results have been similar -- children teach themselves computer literacy. The Hole in the Wall project has become famous in India and abroad because it seems to confirm Mitra's original brainstorm: Given access, kids will pick up knowledge on their own. Meanwhile, the business model for operating computer kiosks is still far off -- but NIIT is soaking up huge amounts of valuable real-world information about how the kiosk computers work best and how they're actually used.

I sit in on a fascinating meeting with Mitra and members of his team of researchers, designers and engineers. Sanjay Gupta, a designer, says he was told that the specifications for the new design of the computer kiosk were that it must be able to run anywhere. "You just drop it, be it in a desert, or a seacoast, or a hilltop, and the damn thing should run," he says.

The team describes how remote sensors now monitor the use of the computers, to give researchers an idea of how kids are using them. Ravi Bisht, a senior manager, says, "We can get a screen grab of the children, what they are doing at present at the particular kiosk. We can get their audio, the conversation of whatever is
happening around the kiosk."

Gupta agrees. "One of our researchers has a program that transfers what we call footprints. We have a complete log of the activity that took place at the kiosks in terms of Internet usage. Somebody visited a bank, somebody visited usatoday.com and so on, and along with this, you have the date and the time. It's complete recall."

And the team discusses other possibilities -- joysticks that make the kiosks easier for kids to use (and that discourage adults); touchpads that can withstand the elements; kiosks embedded in concrete pillars; ways to make access to the Internet even faster.

I ask the researchers if they'd be surprised if one day a kid realizes that he can communicate with anyone in the world from this box. Gupta pauses. "Oh, yes," he says. "Well, actually, yes and no, because the kids have surprised us enough already.
So this won't really come as a big surprise because we expect surprises!"

Mitra and his team continue to redesign the kiosks, collecting and analyzing data from the dozens of computers they've already installed and preparing to open more and more holes in the wall in the coming months. Mitra, dreaming about the possibilities, estimates that if he can make 100,000 computers accessible,
"100 million Indian young people would teach themselves computer literacy within five years."

Mitra tells me he plans to stop by the end of 2003, however, once he's installed a total of 108 public computers all over India. "That's the number of faces of Vishnu," he notes with a smile.

What happens next, Mitra says, will depend on how much others value children and education.

Links Relevant to this Article:
Globalvision
Globalvision features more useful information about the Hole in the Wall project, including the team of scientists behind it and the design, engineering,construction, data analysis and collection issues involved. Find on the site three compelling video-clips with scenes from an 82-minute film version of the story.

A Hole in the Wall Goes a Long Way
A "daily development news channel," InfoChange India hosts articles and debates on India's social sector. The site covered the Hole in the Wall story.

India's Slum Kids Latch on to IT
Nirmal Ghosh is India Correspondent for Straits Times Interactive. He reports on NITT's cognitive research team's Hole in the Wall experiment.

Message from Deepak Chopra

2005-12-29T16:42:00.000-08:00

Message from Deepak Chopra
8thNovember 2002 ( message 129 )

Subject: Message from Deepak Chopra

Dear Friend,
Almost a year ago, after the death of my father, I had a very clear experience of non-local being. I realized that our soul, our true self, like gravity or truth or time, is everywhere.

Imagine a series of concentric circles, one within the other. Then imagine yourself living in each of these circles, beginning with the smallest.

The first circle is your body and the physical world of the five senses. Here you live in time as it passes.

The second circle is the pattern of brain waves that create your thoughts, feelings, and desires. Here you live in the mind.

The third circle is the invisible pattern of energy from which the brain was created. Here you live in the play of natural forces.

The fourth circle is the field that extends infinitely through the cosmos, from which all energy is born. Here you live in the fluctuating waves of the cosmic ocean.

The fifth circle is the silent, unmoving field that unites all force fields, from which space and time arose. Here you live within the ocean itself.

The sixth circle is the womb of the universe-infinite dimensions wrapped within each other. Here you live in the cradle of creation before creation occurs.

The seventh circle is the uncreated-God, Brahman, the One and All. Here you live eternally.

What I realized with a wave of relief was that no one has to go anywhere. All these realms exist at the same time. You and I meet on the street as two bodies, but we also meet as two minds, two souls, two citizens of the cosmos. Ultimately we do not meet at all-we merge into the ocean of spirit. We are one.

The only thing that changes is perception. You and I choose the circle we belong in, and once we identify it, we call that reality. Ego offers the most constricted reality, the innermost circle. Looking over the wall to a larger reality, or even to another person's point of view, ego says, "What has this got to do with me?"
But ego does not exist to deny the soul. Ego exists because it is necessary.

The force of evolution tugs at us, coaxing us to see into larger circles. The source of this tugging is the soul, which already knows every layer of reality, from the deepest darkness to the eternal light. For many centuries no one had the faintest idea about brain functioning or gravity or subatomic particles. The fact that we
didn't perceive them doesn't mean they didn't exist. Rather, that infinitely expanded reality lay waiting for us to cross our own boundaries. As we did, perceptions shifted, giving birth to new worlds.

When you can experience grief and yet are able to come to recognize the work of the soul, you will feel elated. The hidden message of suffering will have revealed itself. For myself, I was able to accept the loss of my father in a completely new way-as no loss at all. He became more present to me than ever before. I felt that I was meeting his true self as I met mine. This was our soul connection. I had
crossed a boundary that was very difficult on the level of feeling. My father's beloved face, his voice, his physical closeness were gone. I had deeply feared that he as an individual was also lost. Now I can celebrate that nobody has an individual self, not at the soul level. You and I roam the universe pretending to be individuals. Loss is a phantom projected by the ego, which believes only in the
individual "I."

What are you and I, really? We are an expression of the entire universe. The universe gave birth to you and me as separate persons, but it didn't let us out of eternity's embrace. At this very moment we stand outside time as surely as inside it.

As much as you need the world in order to live, the world needs you in order to exist. You are the only way the universe can experience exactly the things you feel, see, touch, think, and desire as no one else can. Patterns arise and fall, passing away like dust. With one side of your being, you play in these patterns, creating dramas of light and dark. But with another side of your being you are pure
awareness, pure creativity, pure possibility. You are the source. Therefore when you die, the same process occurs that led to your being born. The source rearranges the patterns once again. Look upon the afterlife as you look upon this instant, as both a new birth and a new death.

Recovering the soul is a journey from one circle of awareness to the next. Expansion of consciousness doesn't take you anywhere. You may have a life-changing insight on a Friday or in a specific place like Chicago or Jerusalem. But these are only bits of the passing scenery. The highest realms in which you live are nowhere and everywhere. The edges of time and space are hard when viewed from the inner circle,
where the body strives to exist. The edges get softer in the domain of art and music, softer still in the domain of love.

Jesus described the journey with such beautiful conciseness when he said that freedom means 'being in the world but not of it.' Equally beautiful is the teaching of the Upanishads, which say that for someone in ignorance, experience is like writing in stone; for someone who has begun to know spirit, experience is like writing in water; for someone who is liberated, experience is like writing in
air.

Joy with detachment is the spiritual aim of life. On the healing path you will experience moments of both, and there will be stretches when neither is possible. Your ego will shout its demands, and then "I, me, and mine" will have to be tended to. This is natural. The smallest circle of your being, the place of ego and its needs, is just as holy a place as the wider circles. To say that anyone has a
false self is a relative term. It is more true to say that we are all writing our lives in stone, hoping for the day when we will be written in water, and knowing the time will come when we will be written in air.

Love,

Deepak

H.K.Firodai Award goes to Prof.Jhun Jhun Wala

2005-12-29T04:35:00.000-08:00

H.K.Firodai Award goes to Prof.Jhun Jhun Wala
November 5th 2002 ( Message 125 )
......................
Ashok,
You are a true inspiration and a champion and we Salute you for your vision and tenacity in overcoming the odds in a country like India where money talks and corruption and red tape are rampant.

A simple exercise as IIT-Global set up to network with Alumni from all IIT's and to act as a free forum devoid of banter, religion or politics has had strong opposition from shall I say "The Establishment" that sees this private groups as a threat.

We have been accused of being illegitimate and defragmenting other efforts. I am happy I can take cue from your committment to follow your dreams.

I am sure the 1100 current members will join me and applaud your achievements.
It would be good if you can find some time to post a message to this group of IIT alumni living all over the world and tell us how we can join you in progressing your dreams. We have 36 alumni groups in Madras alone and am sure 36 such groups in all IIT's totalling over 100000 members. That is a lot of IITians and I am sure we can make a significant impact in furthering your dreams.

Ramboaus
Moderator.
.................................................

Acceptance speech by Dr. Ashok Jhunjhunwala on being presented H.K. Firodia Award on 8.10.2002

1. I consider it a great honour and special privilege to receive the H.K. Firodia award for Excellence in Science and Technology today, specially from the hands of Honorable former President of our country. When I look at those who have received
the award in the past, I recognize that only people of great eminence and very high capabilities have got the award in the past. I do hope I can follow their footsteps and serve our country.

2. I remember that when I had just got admission at IIT Kanpur and my grandfather, who was a Gandhian worker living in Bihar, told me about some debate that had taken place in Sarvodaya Circles when IITs were being set up. Initially a bit perturbed
that such elite institutions were being set up in independent India, Gandhians had come to a conclusion that these institutions were to be like Nalandas of esteryears. Society was to provide the best for its brightest students. But once they graduate, it is upto these students to lead the country and overcome all the problems that the society faces, without complaining. He hoped that I will live upto what society provides me to get educated at IIT.

3. I joined IIT Madras as a faculty 21 years ago. My grandfather's words were very much in my mind. Equally important, I had learned over years that S&T in India must contribute to strengthening the industry in India as well as serve the society.

What I had learned so far was, however, largely theoretical. I did some theoretical work on new devices and communication systems and published my results. During my M.S and Ph.D. years, I had got trained in these aspects.

Sometimes what we published was significant, at other times it made only a delta contribution. But I soon realized that even if we make a significant theoretical contribution to the state of art, it had practically no impact on Indian industries and societies in short or medium run.

I therefore started interacting with Indian industries. I found that by and large electronics industries were importing technologies and assembling systems. But for the protected market, they would not be able to survive. I decided to help by building some small gadgets and devices for them.

4. The problem was that I had never built these electronic gadgets and devices earlier. I put forward this problem to my students. Some of them came forward and offered to learn and build things along with me.

We, therefore, started learning, building things, making mistakes and correcting ourselves.

It was a matter of couple of years when our systems started working in our labs. But when we took them to the industry, we encountered another problem, what works in a lab does not work in the field. The process of building and learning started again.
It took a lot of efforts on part of industry, students and myself, before we could make something work. At the time, if we would have talked about our IPRs or consultancy with industry, we would have got no-where. We were only learning. Just because we had PhDs did not mean that what we were doing had any IPR. We worked with very limited resources and industry contributed as much in terms of experience, field testing, components and manpower. By 1985, we could build small industrial systems.

5. It is around this time we heard about Sam Pitroda and CDOT through some of our students working at CDOT. I visited CDOT several times. I saw a commitment to deliver and a commitment to make a difference to the Indian telecom scene. They were not only developing technology, they were also developing a culture for technology development in India. It is here that we recognized that we are not inferior to anyone else in this respect.

Also we learned that technology development is meaningless without simultaneously developing the manufacturing and Quality Assurance process and developing vendors.

6. In late 80's, I was joined by Dr. Bhaskar Ramamurthi and Dr.Timothy Gonsalves, both former students of IITM. They returned to IITM after M.S/Ph.D and some work experience in USA. We decided to work as a team (in the form of TeNeT group) with a
commitment to make a difference to telecom and networking in India. We soon realized the great advantage of working as a team (that 1+1 is not 2 but 11). Today, technology is rarely an individual effort.

We learned much faster and were able to build a fairly large team of youngsters (mostly fresh graduates) to build systems that matter.

7. By early nineties, we had come to a conclusion that if India had to stand up, it required around 100 to 200 million telephone and Internet connections, whereas it had barely 10 million connections. We started analyzing why this was so. While lack of investments and having Government monopoly operator were part of the answer, the root of the problem was in simple economics. At that time, it used to cost Rs.40,000 as infrastructure cost to put up a telephone line. Considering that the finance cost in India was 15%, depreciation rate of telecom infrastructure as 10% and operation and maintenance cost as 10%, it would require 35% of Rs.40,000 as yearly revenue from every line. This amounts Rs.1000 per month.

Now how many Indian homes could afford to spend Rs.1000 per month? Even if we assure that 5% of a household income can be spent on communications, barely 2-3% of Indian homes could afford it.

But the same analysis shows that if one could reduce the cost of telecom infrastructure from Rs.40 K to Rs.10 K per line, almost 50% of homes (and 75% of homes with cross-subsidy) could afford Telephony and Internet.

8. Now, why was the infrastructure cost Rs.40,000 per line ¾ because in the West it was $800. Even in the West, one needs about 35% return on investment every year to break even. But this amounts to $30 per month, which most household could afford.
Therefore everyone was connected quite sometime back and bringing down the cost further did not expand the market.

The R&D focus in the West naturally shifted to provide more and more features and services for the replacement market rather than reduce cost.

However, when India used these technologies, the service was limited to a few percent. It was clear that India needed Rs.10,000 per line telecom system and our R&D needed to focus on this. The vision and efforts of the TeNeT group concentrated on enabling developing countries like India have telecom systems at infrastructure cost of around Rs. 10 K per line. 9. Since then, we have worked towards this. We have incubated companies along with our students, tied up with component manufacturers in the West, tied up with manufacturing industry in India and are working with telecom operators to innovate to reduce costs. Today, our efforts and other similar efforts at cost reduction (especially in China) have resulted in cutting the telecom infrastructure cost to around Rs.20 K per line; still far away from Rs.10 K target. But today we are very confident that we will get there in about 2 to 2 1/2 years.

In the process, we faced numerous difficulties. Initially only a few believed in us. As we brought our technologies upto the field level, we faced the wrath and manipulations of our competitors & the Government machinery was turned against us.
Specifications were changed; frequency spectrum was denied; we faced some tiring time. We, however, refused to be defeated.

Our competitors were hoping that being denied any opportunity to deploy systems, we will not be able to survive. We started deploying outside the country even though different standards there made it very difficult.

Our decision to persevere to keep going on and on finally paid dividends. Today our technologies are being widely used by both public and private operators in India. In many developing countries, we are deploying our systems in medium sale. There
were numerous people who stood with us during those testing times. I would specially like to mention the efforts of Prof. Yashpal, Prof. Govind Swaroop, Prof. Indiresan,
Shri N. Vittal, Prof. M.G. K. Menon and the support that we received from Dr. Mashelkar and Dr. Ramamurthi.

10. But this is the past. Where do we go from here? Today, we feel that

(i) India should be able to reduce Capex Cost of telecom to Rs.10 K per line setting a stage for massive expansion of telecom in India.

(ii) it is possible for India to obtain leadership in the world in some of the areas of telecom.

(iii) but most important, as Internet is power, we not only need to have 200 million telecom and Internet connections in India, we need to provide Internet in every Indian village at the earliest.

While the first two are primarily technological tasks, it is the third, which is a far more complex task as it involves more than mere technology innovation. The TeNeT group is committed today to do whatever is required to see that all villages in India
gets connected.

11. To achieve this, we have recently set up a company called n-Logue communications with a charter to provide and operate Internet connections in all the villages of the country. The company is barred from operating in urban areas so that it can
focus on rural areas and act and think rural.

The business plan of the company is based on the success of STD PCOs in the country. There are 950,000 such PCOs contributing to almost 25% of total telecom revenue and over 50% of urban population who otherwise could not use telephone revenue are
using it through these PCOs. The PCOs are kept open for 16 hours 365 days by a small entrepreneur. Using this model, n-logue plans to set up an Internet kiosk in each village. The kiosk consisting of wireless equipment, multimedia personal computer with camera, printer, power back up for at least four hours and Indian language software costs Rs.50,000.

A local entrepreneur sets up this kiosk (assisted by bank loans)and starts providing three services in the village & telephone service,

Internet service and stand-alone computer services. The operator needs to earn only Rs.3000 per month to start breaking even.

n-Logue has already started putting such kiosks in villages in Tamil Nadu, Maharastra, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan.

The experience of the last eight months have been moving. Villagers now use video conferencing, chat and voice / video mails to connect to eye doctors to get their eye treated specially for cataract. Farmers have often consulted agricultural
colleges on problems relating to their crops and to veterinary college doctors for treatment of chicken and cow disease.

They get their certificates from the District Collector's office by filing on-line applications. Youngsters in villages use live video based education for coaching in specific subjects. Some youngsters have learned CAD / CAM and are looking for work from urban areas that they can carry out remotely from villages.

12. We commit to providing each village such connectivity in the next four or five years. The rural GDP of India today is about Rs.600,000 crores.

If these connections can immediately enhance this by even 10%, it would change our country. When we are able to do that, I would have fully justified this honour bestowed on me. I seek blessings from all of you in such an endeavor.